* Adjunct Member
Affinity Group I: Lung and Airway Disease Affinity Group (LAD)
Affinity Group Leader: Dr. Michael Beers
Group Description
Aim: To determine the interactions between environmental exposures and the lung within the context of a genetic predisposition for the induction and progression of airway diseases (asthma or COPD) and lung cancer and mesothelioma. A second intent is on how environmental exposures affect the olfactory system. Four major areas of investigation are:
· airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) with a focus on ozone-exacerbated asthma and innate immunity,
· environmental tobacco smoke and chronic lung disease,
· tobacco-environmental carcinogenesis (TEC) with a focus on lung cancer and mesothelioma, and
· environmental responses to olfaction.
Lung and Airway Disease Affinity Group Members
Michael Beers (Group Leader)
Research Interest: Role of Surfactants in Health and Disease
Steve Albelda
Research Interest: Carcinogen Exposure and Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma
Research Interest: Lung Mechanics and the Development and use of Novel Tests of Respiratory System Function
Andrea Apter
Research Interest: Health Disparities and Asthma Medication
Research Interest: Repair and Replication Fork Collapse
Jason Christie
Research Interest: Acute Lung Injury and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Research Interest: Animal Models of Lung Disease and Chemoprevention with Anti-oxidants
Research Interest: Environmental Air Pollution
Research Interest: Physiological Role of p53, Rb, and Kras in Lung Cancer
Research Interest: Gene-environment Interactions in Asthma
Dongeun (Dan) Huh
Research Interest: Lung-on-a-Chip Models for Human Disease
Research Interest: Cluster Analysis of Mesothelioma Incidence
Research Interest: Signal Transduction Mechanisms in Cancer
Despina Kontos
Research Interest: Environmental Exposures of COPD and Lung Cancer
Research Interest: Lung Injury and Repair
Research Interest: Role of Human Aldo-Keto Reductase (AKR) Genes in Hormonal and Chemical Carcinogens
Research Interest: Tumor Suppressor Genes and Mesothelioma
Anil Vachani
Research Interest: Genetic Susceptibility and Biomarkers of Lung Cancer and Mesothelioma
