About Eric Schmidt, MD
Dr. Schmidt is a physician-scientist and Division Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). After graduating from medical school at the University of Pittsburgh in 2001, Dr. Schmidt completed residency, chief residency, and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 2009, he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado and the Denver Health Medical Center. In 2022, he was recruited to MGH, where he cares for critically ill patients admitted to the medical ICU.
Dr. Schmidt is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Physiology—Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, and a standing member of the NIH/CSR Surgery, Anesthesiology, and Trauma (SAT) study section.
Clinical Interests:
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
- Critical Illness
- Sepsis
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Mass General Pulmonary & Critical Care
55 Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-1721
Medical Education
- MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Residency, Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Fellowship, Johns Hopkins Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Critical Care Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine
- Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine
- Pulmonary Disease, American Board of Internal Medicine
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid RI
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
The Schmidt laboratory pursues "bedside-to-bench" mechanistic investigations of sepsis and septic organ injury. We are particularly interested in the function and fate of the endothelial and epithelial glycocalyces during health and critical illness. Using human and animal studies, we identified that sepsis-associated degradation of the endothelial glycocalyx induces local vascular dysfunction (leading to ARDS and acute kidney injury) while simultaneously releasing circulating heparan sulfate fragments that penetrate the hippocampus and impair cognition in sepsis survivors. Our interests extend beyond the vasculature: we have identified the presence and structure of an alveolar epithelial glycocalyx, defined its importance to surfactant homeostasis, and determined the impact of its degradation on secondary bacterial pneumonia pathogenesis and ARDS outcomes. Our laboratory is particularly proud of the numerous successes of its trainees, who have pursued impactful research under F31, F32, K08 (NHLBI, NIA), R03, and foundation (AHA) support.