Craig Glazer, M.D.

Meet Dr. Glazer

Pulmonologist

Pulmonologist Craig Glazer, M.D., compares interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) ­– a grouping of hundreds of diseases that involve the deep tissue in the lungs – to puzzles that are difficult to solve.

"We have the advanced training to treat complex interstitial lung diseases."

Information he gathers from detailed histories, exams, and X-rays need to be pieced together correctly to understand the nature of the problem – and to determine the right course of treatment. It's that challenge that spurs Dr. Glazer to help patients with ILDs.

The correct diagnosis can make all the difference. Dr. Glazer remembers one patient who had been told that he had idiopathic pulmonary disease, which is usually a fatal illness without any known treatments. But Dr. Glazer found that the patient had a different interstitial disease called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, which was treatable.

"After we made the correct diagnosis and we removed the exposure that caused the disease, he completely recovered," Dr. Glazer says.

Dr. Glazer takes pride in being part of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The Program is the only one in the region that brings together experts with advanced training in the plethora of potential ILDs, with each physician specializing in a different area.
Dr. Glazer, for example, specializes in occupational and environmental ILDs. These include asbestosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, silicosis, and other lung diseases caused by something patients inhaled at work or in the home.

In addition to his work with patients, Dr. Glazer takes great pride in teaching the next generation of pulmonologists. He works with internal medicine residents and pulmonology fellows at UT Southwestern's hospitals to help them learn to solve ILDs’ complex riddles.