research

William Altemeier Peter Chen Charles Frevert Sina Gharib Sean Gill
Sean Gill Teal Hallstrand Anne Manicone Thomas Martin Gustavo Matute-Bello
William Parks Lynn Schnapp Shawn Skerrett Pradeep Singh Eoin West
Mark Wurfel

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Lung Immunity and Repair Program

The Lung Immunity and Repair Program represents one of the largest research foci in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Research within this program is varied, including basic biomedical research with a strong emphasis on animal models as well as transitional studies with human patients, cohorts, and material. In addition, the Lung Immunity and Repair Program spans several sites in Seattle, with most labs located within the modern, state-of-the facilities at the Center for Lung Biology at the South Lake Union campus of the University of Washington School of Medicine.

A common thread among the Lung Immunity and Repair labs is the goal to uncover fundamental mechanisms involved in the onset, progression, and resolution of acute lung injury, airway infection, and asthma. To achieve these goals, the Program labs incorporate a variety of sophisticated approaches, including genetically-defined mouse models, systems biology (inclusive of genomics transcriptomics, proteomics, and computational biology), microbiology, immunology, and imaging technologies. Our program focuses on three broad areas of lung biology:

1. Lung Development, Repair, and Fibrosis.

2. Host-Pathogen Interactions and Microbial Pathogenesis

3. Inflammation Biology

The various labs and scientists within the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division and affiliated groups that constitute the Lung Immunity and Repair Program are listed below. More information is available by clicking their names.

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  Subprogram Affiliation

Lung Development, Repair and Fibrosis

Host-Pathogen Interactions and Microbial Pathogenesis

Inflammation Biology

William Altemeier

William Altemeier

Daniel Campbell

Peter Chen

Charles Frevert

Jeremy Duffield

Jeremy Duffield

Sina Gharib

Charles Frevert

Charles Frevert

E. Peter Greenberg

Sean Gill

Sean Gill

Chris Goss

Sina Gharib

Sina Gharib

Anne Manicone

Teal Hallstrand

Teal Hallstrand

John McGuire

Thomas Martin

Thomas Martin

William Parks

Gustavo Matute-Bello

Gustavo Matute-Bello

Pradeep Singh

John McGuire

John McGuire

Lynn Schnapp

William Parks

William Parks

Shawn Skerrett

Lynn Schnapp

Lynn Schnapp

Eoin West

Thomas Wight

Lincoln Smith

 

Mark Wurfel

Thomas Wight

 

Jane Yoo

Mark Wurfel

 

Steven Ziegler

 

Faculty Research Interests

William Altemeier, MD, Associate Professor, focuses on mechanical ventilation-induced lung injury in mice with an emphasis on redox sensitive transcription factors and modulation of TLR signaling.

Peter Chen, MD, Assistant Professor, uses human and mouse models to uncover fundamental mechanisms of cell adhesion and signaling that control airway re-epithelialization.

Charles Frevert, DVM, ScD, Associate Professor, Dept. of Comparative Medicine, investigates how glycosaminoglycans regulate chemokine production and the influx and activation state of leukocytes.

Sean Gill, PhD, Instructor, explores how TIMP3, a proteinase inhibitor, function to moderate lung fibrosis, inflammation, and macrophage activation.

Sina Gharib, MD, Assistant Professor, applies advanced computational tools to understand the pathogenesis of complex phenotypes using genomic, transcriptomics, and proteomic analyses.

Chris Goss, MD, Associate Professor, focuses on assessing predictors of survival in patients with cystic fibrosis and generating mathematical models to predict survival in these patients.

Teal Hallstrand, MD MPH, Associate Professor, focuses on the pathogenesis of asthma through translational human studies and in vitro models with an emphasis on the regulation of eicosanoid.

Anne Manicone, MD, Assistant Professor, studies how sterol metabolism, with a focus on post-translational control of ApoE activity, contributes to lung inflammation and macrophage activation.

Thomas Martin, MD, Professor, investigates mechanisms that regulate innate immunity, inflammatory responses, and epithelial injury and repair in the lungs in mouse models of pneumonia and sepsis.

Gustavo Matute-Bello, MD, Associate Professor, focuses on lung epithelial damage and apoptosis and how these mechanisms impact lung host defenses.

William Parks, PhD, Professor and Director, Center for Lung Biology, and Affiliate Investigator, Benaroya Research Institute, focuses on how matrix metalloproteinases act on specific proteins to facilitate lung development, defense against microorganisms, tissue repair, and leukocyte recruitment and activation.

Lynn Schnapp, MD, Professor, uses mouse models to study the onset and resolution of acute lung injury and fibrosis, pathways that regulate lymphocyte trafficking to the lung during inflammation and injury, and the interactions of the extracellular environment with HIV in the lung.

Pradeep Singh, MD, Associate Professor, focuses on the extensive genetic diversity of biofilm Pseudomonas aeruginosa in lungs of patients of cystic fibrosis and how biofilm communities withstand physiological stress with the goal to inhibit biofilm formation.

Shawn Skerrett, MD, Professor, seeks a better understanding of the cellular and molecular basis of pulmonary host defenses against infection and to define critical mechanisms of resistance against intracellular infection, and determine how virulent pathogens subvert host defenses.

Eoin West, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, targets bacterial respiratory infections using translational methods to understand the importance of specific components of innate immunity in these diseases.

Mark Wurfel, MD PhD, Associate Professor, uses advance genomic tools to understand and identify genetic variant that contribute to host susceptibility to sepsis and acute lung injury.

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  Affiliate Investigators
  Daniel Campbell, Immunology Program, Benaroya Research Institute
  Jeremy Duffield, Nephrology
  Terrance Kavanagh, Environmental and Occupational Health Science
  E. Peter Greenberg, Microbiology
  John McGuire, Pediatrics
  Thomas Wight, Matrix Biology Program, Benaroya Research Institute
  Jane Yoo, Dermatology
  Steven Ziegler, Immunology Program, Benaroya Research Institute

Affiliate Faculty Research Interests
Daniel Campbell, PhD, Associate Member, Immunology Program, Benaroya Research Institute and Affiliate Associate Professor of Immunology, studies how regulatory T cells functions to restrain immune responses and how these cells can promote chronic infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Jeremy Duffield, MD PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Nephrology, focuses on macrophage activation and function and fibrosis in models of kidney and liver disease.

E. Peter Greenberg, PhD, Professor of Microbiology, is a pioneer in the emerging field of sociomicrobiology and the molecular basis of quorum sensing and explores how bacteria switch from a nomadic existence to a sessile biofilm lifestyle.

Terrance Kavanagh, PhD, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Adjunct Professor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, conducts research in lung toxicology and analytical cytology with emphasis on free radical biology, immunotoxicology, genetic toxicology, and nanotoxicology.

John McGuire, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine, studies how epithelial shape dendritic cells and T cells to promote the resolution of airway fibrosis, inflammation, and infection.

Jane Yoo, MD, Instructor of Dermatology, studies how specific proteases and receptors regulate aspects of innate and adaptive immune responses in models of atopic dermatitis.

Thomas Wight, PhD, Member and Director, Hope Heart Program, Benaroya Research Institute and Affiliate Professor of Pathology, focuses on defining the role that proteoglycans play in affecting macrophage influx and activation in models of airway infection.

Steven Ziegler, PhD, Member and Director, Immunology Program, Benaroya Research Institute and Affiliate Professor of Immunology, focused on the genes and cell populations that are involved in controlling autoimmune-type responses, with an emphasis on the role of TSLP, a key initiator of allergic lung inflammation.

 

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