I have 30 years of experience in the study of asthma, airways inflammation and airways remodeling, with a focus to understand why inflammation persists and why repair is aberrant in airways. My focus in recent years has been on the initial response to airway injury in cell biology-focused studies. Along with this, I have focused on understanding clinical parameters important to the care of patients with asthma. I have successfully administered several major NIH-funded grants, all of which have required significant collaborations with investigators from diverse fields and which have generated peer-reviewed publications in key biomedical journals. More recently, I have focused on understanding clinical parameters important to the care of patients with asthma. I was contact PI in a U19 funded Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Center funded by NIAID. Our asthma program was just awarded a UG1 for precision medicine in severe and exacerbation prone asthma (the “PrecISE” protocol). I also co-direct our hospital-wide COPD clinical program that focuses on readmissions and the transitions from hospital to outpatient and community medicine. Our multi-disciplinary group has already “bent the curve” downward substantially in readmissions, and I direct the clinical support team that provides direct patient care. More recent work from our program examines the role of the epithelium in host-defense responses to the airway microbiome; we have the largest single-center study to state and currently are examining the relationship of the fungal microbiome (the ‘mycobiome’) to the bacterial microbiome in asthma. All of this is dedicated to the idea that understanding the basic and translational science of the lungs will lead to better therapies for asthma.
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