Dr. Fernando Martinez
Dr. Fernando Martinez has co-authored a paper in Nature Medicine that describes a newly discovered automated tool for identifying patients at high risk for having or developing IPF.
IPF, which causes progressive scarring of the lungs due to chronic lung inflammation, is usually fatal because it tends to be diagnosed late in the process when treatments are less effective. Dr. Martinez and colleagues have found that their new screening tool, utilizing electronic medical records, swiftly and accurately identifies IPF. The investigators, including from Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, University of Chicago, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Mayo Clinic, explain that the new tool adds no additional time to patient assessment by drawing upon easily available parameters existing within the patient’s electronic medical record. A program can run a search to get results even before a patient arrives for their visit. In order to best treat IPF, treatments (e.g., anti-fibrosis drugs) need to be initiated as soon as possible.
Dr. Martinez explains, “Having a robust screening method based on easily available parameters from electronic medical records is a major advance to assure early diagnosis.”
Dr. Martinez is the Bruce Webster Professor of Internal Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and Chief of the WDOM’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.