Titles
- Assistant Professor
Departments
- Medicine
Education
- Fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, 2009-2011
- Research Track Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, 2004-2009
- Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, 2003-2004
- Pathology Resident / Postdoctoral Fellow at Duke University Medical Center, NC, 2000-2003
- MD/PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 1992-2000
- BS from The University of Texas at Austin in Molecular Biology, 1988-1992
Research Interests
- Innate and adaptive immune responses in pulmonary pathology
- Mechanisms of cigarette smoke induced lung injury
Research Summary
As an MD/PhD, I have both clinical and basic science training. My basic science experience includes the disciplines of molecular biology and immunology. My clinical training is in Allergy/Immunology and Internal Medicine. My clinical interests lie in adult allergy and asthma My research focuses on understanding the dysfunction of host defense and the immune system that occurs in chronic bronchitis and emphysema (collectively, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as a result of cigarette smoke. My studies use the Scnn1b-overexpressing transgenic mouse model, which was developed here at UNC and mimics many of the characteristics of human COPD. My current studies, undertaken in conjunction with Dr. Claire Doerschuk , director of the UNC Center for Airways Disease, aim to determine the effect of exposure to cigarette smoke on the lung disease in these transgenic mice and develop a murine model of COPD. I intend to explore the changes in immune function as well as changes in the airway mucus proteome in order to identify the pathogenic mechanisms that lead to COPD. My long term career goals are to establish a translational, multidisciplinary research program to carry these studies into a better understanding of human COPD.
Click here for publications