Asthma and Allergy Research

Research Overview

Vanderbilt offers a broad range of multi-disciplinary, highly collaborative NIH-funded research programs in clinical, translational and basic science research in asthma and allergic diseases.  The research programs range from covering respiratory epidemiology to basic eicosanoid biology. 

The home of the division’s clinical translational programs is the Center for Asthma Research. 

The focus areas of asthma and allergy research within the division include:

Allergic diseases, asthma, and respiratory epidemiology  

Programs in allergic diseases, asthma and respiratory epidemiology focus on risk factor identification, and translational studies to elucidate novel biologic pathways.  

Faculty: 

• Donald Arnold, MD, MPH  
• Leonard Bacharier, MD  
• Tebeb Gebretsadik, MPH  
• Tina Hartert, MD, MPH  
• Christian Rosas-Salazar, MD, MPH  
• Brittney Snyder, PhD  
• Pingsheng Wu, PhD, MS  

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD)  

Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease is a subtype of adult- onset asthma associated with recurrent nasal polyposis and hypersensitivity reactions to aspirin and other cyclooxygenase-1 inhibitors (NSAIDs).   

This research program is actively working to understand the mechanism that contribute to the severe respiratory tract inflammation and identify the best treatment options for patients with AERD.  

Faculty:  Katherine Cahill, MD 

Eicosanoids and mediators in airway inflammation  

Eicosanoids encompass a group of pro- and anti-inflammatory lipid mediators in the respiratory tract integral to the development of airway inflammation.  

This team has over 20 years of experience investigating how these mediators contribute to the acute and chronic airway inflammation in asthma, the respiratory viral infection response and the mechanisms of AERD.  

Faculty: 

• Katherine Cahill, MD  
• Dawn Newcomb, PhD  
• Stokes Peebles, MD  
• Shinji Toki, PhD  
• Weisong Zhou, PhD  

Drug Allergy Research 

Division faculty member Cosby Stone, MD, MPH, has a current scientific focus on defining the key epidemiologic and immunogenetic risk features of true IgE-mediated cephalosporin allergies.  

He leads a study “Understanding and Monitoring Drug Induced Anaphylaxis,” and operates, along with Dr. Elizabeth Phillips, a Drug Allergy Clinic in parallel to their research programs. 

Learn more at the Center for Drug Safety and Immunologywebsite. 

Metabolomics  

Metabolomics studies focus on using targeted and untargeted metabolomics in early life to elucidate the upstream pathways of asthma and allergic disease phenotypes.  

Faculty:   

• Tina Hartert, MD, MPH  
• Brittney Snyder, PhD  
• Kedir Turi, PhD  

Methodological considerations in asthma causal inference  

As making valid causal inferences is challenging, these studies apply innovative methods and study designs to assess risk factor relationship with asthma and allergic disease outcomes.  

Faculty:   

• Tebeb Gebretsadik, MPH  
• Siyuan Ma, PhD  
• Pingsheng Wu, PhD, MS    

Microbiome and asthma and allergic diseases  

Human and laboratory studies focus on the role of the early life microbiome in acute respiratory morbidity and the development of chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma.  

Faculty:   

• Suman Das, PhD  
• Tina Hartert, MD, MPH  
• Christian Rosas-Salazar, MD, MPH  

Obesity, glucose metabolism and asthma  

Asthma associated with comorbid obesity impacts >60% of patients with severe asthma and results in increased symptoms, poorer disease control and response to standard therapies, and greater risk for asthma exacerbations and asthma-related hospitalizations.   

This research team is identifying how excess fat mass alters the immune function in the airway and testing the clinical and mechanistic efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, medications approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, in obesity-related asthma. 

Faculty:  

• Katherine Cahill, MD  
• Stokes Peebles, MD    

Respiratory viral infections and their role in asthma and allergic diseases  

Human clinical, translational and basic science studies of early life respiratory viral infections aim to decipher the role and mechanisms through which respiratory viruses contribute to acute and chronic respiratory diseases.  

Faculty: 

• Leonard Bacharier, MD  
• Tebeb Gebretsadik, MPH  
• Tina Hartert, MD, MPH  
• Dawn Newcomb, PhD  
• Stokes Peebles, MD  
• Christian Rosas-Salazar, MD, MPH  
• Brittney Snyder, PhD  
• Kedir Turi, PhD  
• Pingsheng Wu, PhD, MS    

Sex differences in asthma and atopic diseases  

Faculty: 

• Dawn Newcomb, PhD  
• Kedir Turi, PhD  

Special populations: Cystic fibrosis and Down syndrome 

Faculty:  Pingsheng Wu, PhD