Sujith V Cherian MD, FCCP, DAABIP

Associate Professor
Director, Interventional Pulmonology and Pleural diseases, Lyndon B Johnson Hospital
Divisions of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine
University of Texas Health
McGovern Medical School, Houston

Email:     Sujith.v.cherian@uth.tmc.edu
Phone:     818-854-5737

Educational Philosophy

 “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”.

Although the origins of this quote are debated, there is no question that this quote stays true to the foundation of medical education. I believe this should be the fundamental basis of the teaching mantra for every academic clinician, and it deeply resonates with my educational philosophy. As a teacher and educator- I am of the strong opinion that getting a student/ resident/ fellow to be involved while on a rotation is the most important and the first part of their education. As an academic clinician, I feel that this starts by creating a team atmosphere- where everyone feels important, and everyone knows that their opinion/ point may be valid and listened to. For this, an optimal learning environment can only be created if there is no fear or intimidation. As a student, I never liked such an atmosphere, and I make sure that this optimal learning environment is always created whenever I round. Once that starts and everyone gets involved, then learning happens naturally.

Biography

Sujith V Cherian MD is an associate professor within the divisions of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine in the department of Internal Medicine. He serves as associated director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Director of Interventional Pulmonology and Pleural diseases at the Lyndon B Johnson Hospital. He received his medical training from Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, following which he did his residency in Internal Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York- following which he came to UT Health to do his fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.

Cherian has been actively involved in several educational activities. He is core faculty for the internal medicine residency program and helps organize the pulmonary ambulatory curriculum lectures for the residents. Within the fellowship program, he is site director for the fellowship program at the Lyndon B Johnson Hospital, and initiated and organizes the Mechanical ventilator workshop for them every year.

Education

  • Medical Degree
    Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
  • Residency
    Internal Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York
  • Fellowship
    Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Health-McGovern Medical School, Houston

Current Teaching Responsibilities

Pulmonary Physiology Lecture- 1st yr. Medical Students
Ambulatory Pulmonary Curriculum Lectures- coordinating 4 rounds of lectures for all the interns within the Internal Medicine residency program.
Site Director- Lyndon B Johnson Hospital, Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship program
Mechanical Ventilation Workshop- Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program
Monthly case conferences – Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellows
Guest faculty- Med Rad Path- Internal Medicine Residency
Interventional Pulmonology lectures- Interventional Pulmonology Institute- World Association of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology

Areas of Interest

Clinical Interests

  • Interventional Pulmonology
  • Pleural diseases
  • Rare Lung diseases
  • Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
  • Mechanical Ventilation
  • Quality Improvement in Pulmonary and Critical Care

HONORS AND AWARDS

  • Best intern teacher award 2010- SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse
  • Best resident teacher award 2011- SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse
  • Reviewer of the month– March 2024- Current Challenges in Thoracic Surgery journal
  • CHEST 2023 Top Reviewer– CHEST Journal- American College of Chest Physicians
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2022-’23 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2021-’22 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Inducted into Academy of Master Educators – 2022– at UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2020-’21 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2019-’20 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Teaching Excellence award- 2018-‘19- by Division of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- McGovern Medical School.
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2018-2019 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Outstanding Subspecialty attending of the year- 2017-’18 award by Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- McGovern Medical School.
  • Deans Teaching Excellence Award- 2017-2018 – by UT Houston, McGovern Medical School, Houston.
  • Outstanding Subspecialty attending of the year- 2016-’17 award by Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- McGovern Medical School.
  • Teaching Excellence award- 2016-2017 award – by Division of Critical Care, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston- McGovern Medical School.

 Selected Publications:

 Balachandran D, Hernandez M, Bashoura L, Cherian S V, Faiz S A. Length of Stay in Ambulatory Surgical Oncology Patients at High Risk for Sleep Apnea as Predicted by STOP-BANG Questionnaire. Anesthesiol Res Pract. 2016:9425936. Epub 2016 Aug 16. PMID: 27610133

Salahuddin M, Karanth S, Ocazionez D, Estrada-Y-Martin RM, Cherian SV. Clinical characteristics and etiologies of miliary nodules in the US; A single center study. Am J Med. 2019 Jun;132(6):767-769. PMID: 30659816

Barreda Garcia J, Xian JZ, Pedroza C, Salahuddin M, Mak G, Keene A, Cherian SV, Young AY, Vijhani P, Doshi PB. Pediatric size phlebotomy tubes and transfusions in adult critically ill patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2020 Aug 8;6:112.PMID: 32782818

Kaous M, Xian J, Rongo D, McDonald M, Ocasionez D, Mathew R, Estrada-Y-Martin RM, Patel B, Cherian SV, Jani PP. Clinical, radiology, pathologic patterns and outcomes of vaping related pulmonary injury in a single institution, A case series. Respir Med. 2020 Sep 20;173:106153. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33017782.

Kirsch B, Aziz M, Kumar S, Burke M, Webster T, Immadi A, Sam M, Lal A, Estrada-Y-Martin RM, Cherian S, Aisenberg GM. Wells Score to Predict Pulmonary Embolism in Patients with Coronavirus disease-2019.  Am J Med. 2020 Dec 11:S0002-9343(20)31108-6. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.10.044. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33316254

Salahuddin M, Salamo O, Karanth S, Faiz SA, Estrada-Y-Martin RM, Cherian SV. Safety and incidence of complications associated with bronchoscopy in an obese population. Clin Respir J. 2021 Feb 20. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33608994

Cherian SV, Kaur S, Karanth S, Xian JZ, Estrada-Y-Martin RM. Diagnostic yield of electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy: A safety net community-based hospital experience in the United States. Ann Thorac. Med. 2021 Jan-Mar;16(1):102-109. PMID: 33680130

Cherian SV, Li C, Roche B, Reyes SA, Karanth S, Lal AP, Aisenberg GM, Estrada-Y-Martin RM. Predictive factors for success of awake proning in hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19: A retrospective cohort study. Respir Med. 2021 Apr 2;181:106379.. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33845325

Alhazzani W, Parhar KKS, Weatherald J, Al Duhailib Z, Alshahrani M, Al-Fares A, Buabbas S, Cherian SV, Munshi L, Fan E, Arabi YM et al; COVI-PRONE Trial Investigators and the Saudi Critical Care Trials Group. Effect of Awake Prone Positioning on Endotracheal Intubation in Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2022 Jun 7;327(21):2104-2113. PMID: 35569448

Kumar A, Cherian SV, Vassallo R, Yi ES, Ryu JH. Current Concepts in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Management of Smoking-Related Interstitial Lung Diseases. Chest 2018. Aug;154(2):394-408. Review. PMID: 29222007

Tang VK, Vijhani P, Cherian SV, Ambelil M, Estrada-Y-Martin RM. Primary pulmonary lymphoproliferative neoplasms. Lung India. 2018 May-Jun;35(3):220-230. Review. PMID: 29697079

Cherian SV, Kumar A, Akasapu K, Ashton RW, Aparnath M, Malhotra A. Salvage therapies for refractory hypoxemia in ARDS. Respir Med. 2018 Aug; 141:150-158. Review. PMID: 30053961.

Cherian S V, Kumar A, Ocasionez D, Estrada-Y- Martin RM, Restrepo CS. Developmental lung anomalies in adults: A pictorial review. Respir Med. 2019 Aug: 155: 86-96. Review. PMID: 31326738

Cherian SV, Girvin F, Naidich DP, Machnicki S, Brown KK, Ryu JH, Gupta N, Mehta V, Estrada-Y-Martin RM, Narasimhan M, Oks M, Raoof S. Lung Hyperlucency: A Clinical-Radiologic Algorithmic Approach to Diagnosis. Chest.
2020;157(1):119–141.Review. PMID: 31356811.

Cherian SV, Kumar A, Estrada-Y-Martin RM. E-cigarette or Vaping- product associated lung injury: A review. Am J Med. 2020;133(6):657-663. Review. PMID: 32179055.

Reyes S, Roche B, Kazzaz F, Lal AP, Estrada-Y- Martin RM, Cherian SV. Pneumothorax and Pneumomediastinum in COVID-19: A Case Series. Patient centered Focused review. Am J Med Sci. 2022 Jun;363(6):548-551. PMID: 35369983

Cherian SV, Patel D, Machnicki S, Naidich D, Stover D, Travis WD, Brown KK, Naidich JJ, Mahajan A, Esposito M, Mina B, Lakticova V, Cohen SL, Muller NL, Schulner J, Shah R, Raoof S. Algorithmic Approach to the Diagnosis of Organizing Pneumonia: A Correlation of Clinical, Radiologic, and Pathologic Features. Chest. 2022 Jan 14:S0012-3692(22)00031-9. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35038455.

Balakrishnan B, Callahan SJ, Cherian SV, Subramanian A, Sarkar S, Bhatt N, Scholand MB. Climate Change for the Pulmonologist: A Focused Review. Chest. 2023 Apr 11:S0012-3692(23)00505-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37054776

BOOK CHAPTER

Cherian SV and Kheir F. “Lung Neoplasms”. In: ATS review for the Pulmonary Boards, 1st ed. Pp, 515-564, 2014.

Cherian SV. Case Files Internal Medicine, Fifth Edition (LANGE Case Files for Medical Students). Contributed by reviewing and editing the chapter on Pleural Effusion.

Cherian SV. Case Files Internal Medicine, Sixth Edition (LANGE Case Files for Medical Students). Contributed by reviewing and editing the chapter on COPD, Bronchial Asthma, Pleural Effusion and Pulmonary Embolism.

Salamo O, Hostetter L, Goizueta A, Ocazionez-Trujillo, Cherian SV. Developmental Lung Anomalies in Adults. 2023. In S.V Cherian and A Kumar (Eds). Rare Lung Diseases: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide to Diagnosis and Management. (1st Ed, Pp. 3-14). Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press.

Khan N, Cherian SV. Eosinophilic lung diseases. 2023. In S.V Cherian and A Kumar (Eds). Rare Lung Diseases: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide to Diagnosis and Management. (1st Ed, Pp. 91-100). Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press.

Cherian SV., Kumar A., de Groot P. M., Truong M. T., & Moran, C. A. (2023). Pneumoconiosis. In The Thorax: Medical, Radiological, and Pathological Assessment (pp. 693-710). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Salamo, O., Estrada-Y-Martin, R.M., Cherian, S.V. (2023). Asbestos, Mining, Mesothelioma, and Lung Cancer. In: Bernicker, E.H. (eds) Environmental Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33750-5_10

BOOK                                   

Cherian SV and Kumar A. “Rare Lung Diseases: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide to Diagnosis and Management” published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Publishing House, released in print on 13th March 2023.