THOMAS A. RAFFIN, M.D.
Colleen and Robert Haas Professor of Medicine & Biomedical Ethics
Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Co-Director, Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics

Education and Training:

Dr. Thomas Raffin is Professor and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. He is also Co-Director of the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics. Dr. Raffin was honored with the Colleen and Robert Haas Professorship in Medicine and Biomedical Ethics in 1999.

Dr. Raffin graduated from Stanford University in 1968 with "Great Distinction", Phi Beta Kappa, and Honors in Biological Sciences. In 1973, he received his MD from Stanford University School of Medicine and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. He did his internship and residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston and returned to Stanford as a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He joined the faculty at Stanford in 1980.

Clinical and Research Interests:

Dr. Raffin is an active clinician, teacher and investigator. His key areas of academic interest include the treatment of acute lung injury and respiratory failure; studies into the regulation and basic biology of human white cells; and key issues in biomedical ethics, including withholding and withdrawing life support, medical decision-making in the context of managed care and HMOs, and ethical issues in human genomics, genetics screening and therapy.

Dr. Raffin has received numerous teaching awards including three Henry J. Kaiser Foundation Awards for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, one Henry J. Kaiser Foundation Award for Excellence in Preclinical Teaching and the Arthur L. Bloomfield Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Clinical Medicine.

Dr. Raffin has worked closely with many academic medical centers and civic leaders in the Pacific Rim and has developed a series of fellowship programs which have trained over fifty young Pacific Rim physician-scientists in basic and clinical research at Stanford University Medical Center.

Dr. Raffin directed the Respiratory Physiology Course at Stanford University School of Medicine for ten years. He directs the pulmonary and ethics components of the Preparation for Clinical Medicine Course for medical students. He has developed and taught courses for undergraduates in the Human Biology Program including, "Intensive life support systems: Present practice and moral issues" and, "Ethical values in health care: Lessons from the Nazi period."

Dr. Raffin established the Stanford Program in Genomics, Ethics and Society (within the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics) which has sponsored several major international conferences and published recommendations on the use of genetic testing in breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

In 1998 Dr. Raffin helped to raise $5,000,000 to establish the Hutchison Translational Medicine Program which is focusing on basic research to discover new treatments for hepatitis. Part of these funds have gone to support the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and The Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics. In 1998 Dr. Raffin obtained support to establish a Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Care and Research Center at Stanford.

Dr. Raffin is a recognized leader in caring for patients with the rare disease known as lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). He has published some of the key articles dealing with this disease and is the principal investigator of the NIH LAM Registry at Stanford University Medical Center. Further, he is a member of the Board of Directors of the LAM Foundation

Dr. Raffin is on the editorial board of several major journals and has received National Institutes of Health grant support and funding from other foundations and societies. He has published over 200 articles and 35 chapters. In 1988 he co-authored the book Intensive Care: Facing the Critical Choices, which was published by W.H. Freeman. Currently he is one of the editors of a new book to be published by Cambridge Press entitled Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer Susceptibility. In 1998 Dr. Raffin won the President's Citation Award from the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

 

Selected publications (30 out of 203):

  1. McConnell LM, Koenig, BA, Greely HT, Raffin TA, and the Alzheimer Disease Working Group of the Stanford Program in Genomics, Ethics, and Society: Genetic Testing and Alzheimer Disease: Has the time come? Nature Medicine 1998; 4:757-759
  2. Koenig BA, Greely HT, McConnell LM, Silverberg HL, Raffin TA, and the Members of the Breast Cancer Working Group of the Stanford Program in Genomics, Ethics, and Society: "Genetic Testing for BRCA1 AND BRCA2: Recommendations of the Stanford Program in Genomics. J Women's Health 1998; 7 :531-545
  3. Nakayama M, Hasegawa N, Oka Y, Lutzke BS, McCall JM, Raffin TA. Effects of the lazaroid, tirilazad mesylate, on sepsis-induced acute lung injury in minipigs. Crit Care Med. 1998; 26:538-547.
  4. Ip M, Gilligan T, Koenig B, Raffin TA. Ethical decision making in critical care in Hong Kong. Crit Care Med. 1998; 26:447-451.
  5. Young EWD, Marcus F, Drought R, Mendiola M, Ciesielski-Carlucci C, Alpers A, Eaton M, Koenig BA, Loewy E, Raffin TA: Physician Aid-in-Dying: Report of a Northern California Consensus Development Conference. West J Med. 1997 166:381-388.
  6. Gilligan T, Raffin TA. Physician virtues and communication with patients. CCM Supplement-New Horizons 1997; 5:6-14
  7. Hasegawa N, Oka Y, Nakayama M, Berry GJ, Bursten S, Rice G, Raffin TA. Effects of post-treatment with lisofylline, a phosphatidic acid generation inhibitor, on septic acute lung injury in pigs. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997; 155:928-936.
  8. Raab SS, Hornberger J, Raffin TA. The importance of sputum cytology in the diagnosis of lung cancer a cost-effectiveness analysis. Chest 1997; 112:937-945.
  9. Kalassian KG, Doyle RL, Kao PN, Ruoss SJ, Raffin TA. Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: New Insights. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1997; 155:1183-1186.
  10. Movas B, Raffin TA, Epstein AH, Link CJ. Pulmonary radiation injury. Chest 1997; 111: 1061-1076.
  11. Green RJ, Kraft SA, Berry GJ, Ruoss SJ, Raffin TA, Duncan SR. Pulmonary capillaritis: update on diagnosis and management. Chest 1996; 110:1305-1306.
  12. Prendergast TJ, Raffin TA. Variations in DNR rates: the onus is on physicians. Chest 1996; 110: 1141-1142.
  13. Green R, Dafoe D, Raffin TA. Necrotizing fasciitis. Chest 1996; 110:219-29.

  14. Gilligan T, Raffin TA. Whose death is it, anyway? Ann Int Med. 1996; 125:137-41.

  15. Hasegawa N, Kandra TG, Husari AW, Veiss S, Hart WT, Hedgpeth J, Wydro R, Raffin TA. The effects of recombinant human thrombomodulin on Endotoxin-induced multiple system organ failure (MSOF) in rats. Amer J Respir Crit Care Med. 1996; 153:1831-7.
  16. Schumann M, Leung CC, Lee J, Raffin TA. Activation of NADPH-Oxidase and its associated whole cell H+ current in human neutrophils by recombinant human tumor necrosis factor a and formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine. J Biol Chem. 1995; 270:13124-13132.

  17. Rafiee P, Lee J, Leung CC, Raffin TA. TNF-alpha induces tyrosine phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase in human neutrophils. J Immunol. 1995; 154:4785-4792.

  18. Tanigaki T, Suzuki Y, Heimer D, Wang WZ, Sussman HH, Ross WG, Murphy GA, Ikeda H, Raffin TA. Protein kinase C inhibitor, H-7, induces acute lung injury in guinea pigs. Crit Care Med. 1994; 22:1167-1173.
  19. Wang W, Suzuki Y, Tanigaki T, Rank DR, Raffin TA. Effect of the NADPH oxidase inhibitor, apocynin, on septic lung injury in guinea pigs. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1994; 150:1448-1452.
  20. Suzuki Y, Tanigaki T, Heimer D, Wang W, Ross W, Murphy GA, Sakai A, Sussman HH, Vu TH, Raffin TA. TGF-b1 causes increased endothelial cell ICAM-1 expression and lung injury. J Appl Physiol. 1994; 77:1281-1287.
  21. Schumann MA, Raffin TA. Activation of a voltage-dependent chloride current in human neutrophils by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine: The role of protein kinase C. J Biol Chem. 1994; 269:2389-2398.
  22. Tanigaki T, Suzuki Y, Heimer D, Sussman H, Murphy G, Raffin TA. Attenuation of acute lung injury and oxygen free radical activity by the 21-Aminosteroid Lazaroid U78518F. J Appl Physiol. 1993; 93:2155-2160.
  23. Fujishima S, Hoffman AR, Vu, T, Kim J, Zheng H, Daniel D, Kim Y, Wallace EF, Larrick JW, Raffin TA. The kinetics of granulocyte interleukin 8 gene expression and protein secretion in response to LPS, TNF-a, and IL-1b. J Cell Phys. 1993; 154:478-485.
  24. Schumann M, Gardner P, Raffin TA. Recombinant human tumor necrosis factor a induces calcium oscillation and calcium-activated chloride current in human neutrophils. J Biol Chem. 1993; 268:2134-2140.
  25. Suzuki Y, Tanigaki T, Heimer D, Wang W, Ross WG, Sussman HH, Raffin TA. Polyethylene glycol-conjugated superoxide dismutase attenuates septic lung injury in guinea pigs. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1992; 145:338-393.
  26. Yonemaru M, Hatherill JR, Hoffmann H, Zheng H, Ishii K, Raffin TA. Pentoxifylline does not attenuate acute lung injury in the absence of granulocytes. J Appl Physiol. 1991; 71:342-345.
  27. Taylor JR, Ryu J, Colby TV, Raffin TA. Lymphangioleiomyomatosis: What have we learned in 50 years? N Engl J Med. 1990; 323:1254-1260.
  28. Greely HT, Hamm T, Johnson R, Price CR, Weingarten R, Raffin TA, and the Stanford University Medical Center Committee on Ethics. The ethical use of human fetal tissue in medicine. N Engl J Med. 1989; 320:1093-1096.
  29. Thomas JA, Hamm Jr. TE, Perkins PL, Raffin TA and the Stanford University Medical Center Committee on Ethics. Special Report: Animal research at Stanford University: Principles, policies, and practices. N Engl J Med. 1988: 318:1630-1632.
  30. Ruark JE, Raffin TA and the Stanford University Medical Center Committee on Ethics. Initiating and withdrawing life support: Principles and practices in adult medicine. N Engl J Med. 1988; 318:25-30.

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