Dr. White brings over 30 years of experience in the study of asthma, airway inflammation, and airway remodeling, with a long-standing focus on understanding the mechanisms behind persistent inflammation and aberrant tissue repair in the lungs. In recent years, Dr. White’s research has increasingly concentrated on the initial cellular response to airway injury, integrating cell biology approaches to uncover early drivers of disease progression. Parallel to this work, Dr. White has also prioritized investigating clinical parameters that are essential to improving the care and outcomes of patients with asthma.
Dr. White has successfully led several major NIH-funded research projects, all requiring extensive interdisciplinary collaboration and resulting in numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading biomedical journals. As the contact Principal Investigator for a U19-funded Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Center supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. White helped establish a robust research platform for understanding severe asthma. Most recently, this work has evolved into the UG1-funded PrecISE (Precision Interventions for Severe and/or Exacerbation-Prone Asthma) protocol, a precision medicine initiative aimed at advancing treatment strategies for high-risk asthma populations.
In addition to research, Dr. White co-directs a comprehensive, hospital-wide COPD clinical program focused on reducing readmissions and improving care transitions from inpatient to outpatient and community-based medicine. This multidisciplinary effort has already achieved significant reductions in readmission rates, and Dr. White oversees the clinical support team responsible for direct patient care.
Dr. White’s program also leads innovative work on the role of the airway epithelium in host defense responses to the airway microbiome. The team currently manages the largest single-center study examining the respiratory microbiome, with a particular emphasis on understanding the interaction between the fungal microbiome (the mycobiome) and the bacterial microbiome in asthma.
Through all of these endeavors, Dr. White remains dedicated to the belief that advancing both basic and translational lung science will drive the development of more effective therapies for asthma and related pulmonary diseases.
University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Fellowship - Pulmonary Medicine
1987
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
Residency - Internal Medicine
1984
University of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
MD - Medicine
1981
Walsh College
North Canton, OH
BA - Biology
1977
Evidence for an IL-6-high asthma phenotype in asthmatic patients of African ancestry.
Evidence for an IL-6-high asthma phenotype in asthmatic patients of African ancestry. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019 07; 144(1):304-306.e4.
PMID: 31029772
Combination systemic therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors in pancreatic cancer: overcoming resistance to single-agent checkpoint blockade.
Gong J, Hendifar A, Tuli R, Chuang J, Cho M, Chung V, Li D, Salgia R. Combination systemic therapies with immune checkpoint inhibitors in pancreatic cancer: overcoming resistance to single-agent checkpoint blockade. Clin Transl Med. 2018 Oct 08; 7(1):32.
PMID: 2732179
The metabolic footprint of the airway bacterial community in cystic fibrosis.
The metabolic footprint of the airway bacterial community in cystic fibrosis. Microbiome. 2017 06 30; 5(1):67.
PMID: 28666467
Elevated levels of soluble humanleukocyte antigen-G in the airways are a marker for a low-inflammatory endotype of asthma.
Elevated levels of soluble humanleukocyte antigen-G in the airways are a marker for a low-inflammatory endotype of asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017 09; 140(3):857-860.
PMID: 28363527
Virtual Teach-To-Goal™ Adaptive Learning of Inhaler Technique for Inpatients with Asthma or COPD.
Virtual Teach-To-Goal™ Adaptive Learning of Inhaler Technique for Inpatients with Asthma or COPD. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2017 Jul - Aug; 5(4):1032-1039.e1.
PMID: 28065689
Gastrostomy tube placement is safe in advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Gastrostomy tube placement is safe in advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurol Res. 2017 Jan; 39(1):16-22.
PMID: 27876446
Corticosteroid therapy and airflow obstruction influence the bronchial microbiome, which is distinct from that of bronchoalveolar lavage in asthmatic airways.
Corticosteroid therapy and airflow obstruction influence the bronchial microbiome, which is distinct from that of bronchoalveolar lavage in asthmatic airways. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 05; 137(5):1398-1405.e3.
PMID: 26627545
A functional genomic model for predicting prognosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
A functional genomic model for predicting prognosis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. BMC Pulm Med. 2015 Nov 21; 15:147.
PMID: 26589497
Lynx: a knowledge base and an analytical workbench for integrative medicine.
Lynx: a knowledge base and an analytical workbench for integrative medicine. Nucleic Acids Res. 2016 Jan 04; 44(D1):D882-7.
PMID: 26590263
Airway Inflammation after Bronchial Thermoplasty for Severe Asthma.
Airway Inflammation after Bronchial Thermoplasty for Severe Asthma. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2015 Sep; 12(9):1302-9.
PMID: 26230374