Schmidt Laboratory for the Glycobiology of Critical Illness
Email: eschmidt@mgh.harvard.edu
Overview
Dr. Schmidt directs a translational research program dedicated to understanding the mechanisms of organ injury in critical illness, particularly sepsis and ARDS. His work has helped define the importance of the endothelial glycocalyx—a glycosaminoglycan-rich layer lining the vasculature—in maintaining vascular integrity and regulating inflammatory responses. His laboratory has demonstrated that glycocalyx degradation is a key driver of vascular leak, organ dysfunction, and adverse outcomes in critically ill patients.
Expanding beyond the vasculature, his group has also characterized the pulmonary epithelial glycocalyx and its role in maintaining lung function, including surfactant biology and host defense. By integrating clinical cohort studies with mechanistic laboratory models, Dr. Schmidt’s research bridges bedside observations with fundamental biology to identify novel therapeutic targets and improve patient care in the ICU.
Research Projects
Research in the Schmidt Laboratory centers on the role of glycocalyx injury and repair in acute and chronic complications of critical illness. Ongoing studies using novel mass spectrometry approaches investigate how sepsis-induced glycocalyx degradation releases bioactive glycosaminoglycan fragments into the circulation, contributing not only to vascular dysfunction but also to injury in distant organs, including the brain. This work has important implications for understanding both acute organ failure and long-term cognitive outcomes in survivors of critical illness.
Additional projects focus on identifying circulating biomarkers of glycocalyx damage to guide clinical decision-making, including responses to fluid resuscitation and other ICU interventions. The laboratory is also exploring mechanisms of glycocalyx regeneration, sex-based differences in susceptibility to vascular injury, and the contribution of epithelial barrier dysfunction to ARDS and secondary infections. Collectively, these efforts aim to advance precision medicine approaches in critical care by linking measurable biological signals to targeted therapeutic strategies.
Eric Schmidt, MD
Mass General Brigham Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
eschmidt1@mgh.harvard.edu
Dr. Schmidt is a physician-scientist at Mass General Brigham, where he serves as the division chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. 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 Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and was the inaugural Andrew M. Tager MD Endowed Chair of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In 2025, he was named the inaugural Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at MGB. Dr. Schmidt is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, a Fellow of the American Physiological Society, and an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Yimu Yang, PhD
Mass General Brigham Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
yyang52@mgh.harvard.edu
Dr. Yang is a PhD scientist with nationally recognized expertise in the preclinical modeling of sepsis and lung injury. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Schmidt at the University of Colorado in 2009. While initially focused on the endothelial glycocalyx in the pulmonary circulation, he has since expanded his interest to determine the relevance of heparan sulfate to pulmonary fibrosis and bacterial pneumonia.
Kaori Oshima, PhD
Mass General Brigham Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Dr. Oshima started her research career during her undergraduate years, where she studied folate metabolisms in clinical and basic research settings. This led her to pursue her doctoral degree from the University of South Alabama. Dr. Oshima’s dissertation project studied supernumerary arteries—vessels having markedly small diameters and acute branching angles—are prone to developing severe occlusive lesions in pulmonary arterial hypertension due to unusual hemodynamic stress caused by their structural properties.
Dr. Oshima joined the laboratory of Dr. Schmidt at the University of Colorado as a post-doctoral fellow in 2016. Her post-doctoral work identified a novel contribution of endothelial glycocalyx remodeling to post-sepsis immunosuppression. As an independent investigator, she is interested in understanding how the structure of the endothelial glycocalyx impacts vascular functions. Her current project aims to delineate how coagulation is regulated by glycocalyx structures in health and disease, particularly in coagulopathy among patients with traumatic brain injury. Dr. Oshima’s research is funded by an American Heart Association Career Development award.