Stuart Sweet, MD
Pediatric Pulmonologist
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Heads the world’s largest pediatric lung transplant program.
- Current research focuses on lung disease in children and improved understanding of the important factors determining outcome after lung transplantation.
- Dr. Sweet also has a special interest in medical information systems. He has developed several clinical and research databases for the division and is supervising development of the data repository for the International Pediatric Lung Transplant Collaborative. The collaborative, which comprises 11 pediatric lung transplant facilities, shares protocols and infection prevention strategies to achieve optimal patient outcomes.
- Specialization in pediatric allergies, lung disease and lung transplants
- Member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Pediatric and Thoracic transplant committees.
- Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University. Medical Director Pediatric Lung Transplant Program; Medical Director Lung Transplantation; Pulmonary Transplant Director at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Notable Quotes from Dr. Sweet:
Dr. Sweet on the world’s largest pediatric lung transplant program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital:
“The reality in any lung transplant program is that children die waiting. There are not enough lungs, and our team’s hardest task lies in the life-and-death decisions — doing what’s best for the most children.”
Dr. Sweet on living-donor lung re-transplantation:
“Living donor transplantation was developed because it can be difficult to get organs quickly for patients who deteriorate rapidly, particularly patients with cystic fibrosis.”
Dr. Sweet on Bronchiolotis obliterans, a progressive, unpredictable lung disease that causes irreversible damage to transplanted lungs:
“We don’t have a robust tool set to care for some of these later complications. Many new drugs are in the pipeline, and the most exciting research involves finding new ways to trick the immune system. We remain optimistic that through better treatment for CF and improved survival after lung transplantation, the future for children with CF will continue to get brighter.”