Professor
Director

Dr. Königshoff’s research focuses on deciphering mechanisms involved in lung injury, aging and regeneration, with the aim to identify novel therapeutic targets relevant for chronic lung diseases. Her laboratory is interested in the investigation of the role of developmental pathways and stem cells in lung health and disease, in particular, in epithelial cell reprogramming, such as cellular senescence.

Assistant Professor
Associate Director

The vision of our research program is to determine how mitochondria orchestrate epithelial repair, cellular senescence and immune cell function in diseases of accelerated lung aging to identify new therapeutic approaches. We utilize models from cell culture and mouse models to 3D alveolar organoids to understand aging in the context of chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) and pulmonary fibrosis.

Associate Professor

Dr. Chandra’s research program spans the continuum from clinical epidemiology to translational research to basic science investigation in COPD and focuses on three areas: (1) Mechanistic investigation of novel COPD susceptibility genes, i.e., Genetic Map to Mechanism in COPD; (2) Clinical epidemiology of comorbidities, sub-phenotyping, and determinants of progression and accelerated ageing in COPD; and (3) Investigation of E-cigarettes where he leads a the Electronic Cigarette Research Initiative at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr Chandra has been continuously NIH-funded since 2015 and has received multiple foundation awards. He has over 60 publications with close to 3750 citations of his work.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Scheunemann uses implementation science methods to adapt successful interventions from other fields to the post-ICU context, focusing on transitional care, family support and training, and rehabilitation. Her overarching goal is to apply emerging knowledge about wellbeing, resilience, and adaptation across the lifespan to achieve population health for patients and families experiencing critical illness. Visit picturethis.pitt.edu for more info.

Assistant Professor

The Alder lab is focused on how telomere length influences human health and age-associated diseases. Telomeres are one of the best characterized biologic clocks and when telomeres are too short, they often manifest clinically as age-associated lung disease. The Alder lab, within the CLAR, is focused on modeling and understanding this process so we can do something about it.

Clinical Instructor

Kassandra Allbright, MD is a Clinical Instructor in the PACCSM Division and a Burroughs Wellcome Foundation post-doctoral scholar under the mentorship of Dr. Königshoff. She is interested in COPD as a disease of aging and failed regeneration and, ultimately, in the development of therapeutics aimed at this pathogenic mechanism of emphysema. Her current research focuses on understanding the role of Wnt pathway partners in the dysfunction of Alveolar Type II cells in emphysema using primary cells derived from patients with COPD in an organoid model system.

Associate Professor

Dr. Benam’s lab employs a multidisciplinary approach to design and develop biologically and clinically inspired technologies, such as Organs-on-Chips and BioRobotics, to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing tissue pathology, protection, and regeneration during injury and aging, particularly within the pulmonary, vascular, and immune systems. This research holds significant promise for advancing our understanding of aging processes and developing novel therapeutic strategies to restore function in aged or damaged tissues.

Assistant Professor

Dr. Bueno’s research is focused on lung biology with particular interest in the mechanisms promoting lung fibrosis and its interplay with cellular senescence. She aims to elucidate the role (and origin) of B and plasma cells in different fibrotic diseases, as well as the mechanisms by which they promote the initiation, development and progression of fibrosis. In recent years, she has also expanded her research to other types of fibrotic remodeling (airway remodeling in chronic rejection after lung transplantation) and to other organs (studying fibrotic remodeling in chronic liver diseases).

Professor

I direct the Center for Acute Lung Injury and Infection. Our group is interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms of the host – pathogen interactions associated in disesases such as pneumonia, ARDS, COPD and fibrosis. Specifially we are interested in the mechanisms of the lung responses to infectious injury, its repair, resolution and regeneration, especially in the aged susceptible host.

Professor

Dr. Eickelberg’s research focus centers on deciphering the mechanisms of tissue fibrosis, particularly in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) after transplantation. His research mechanistically interrogates profibrotic signaling pathways that control the dynamics of extracellular matrix (ECM) composition during tissue injury, repair, and fibrosis.

Assistant Professor

John Evankovich, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. He is an early-stage investigator studying the molecular mechanisms of acute lung injury and critical illness syndromes. The overall vision of his laboratory is to advance our understanding of dysregulated host responses in Sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. He is studying how one of the biological hallmarks of aging – proteotoxic stress – influences host responses to infection and inflammation in sepsis and the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Associate Professor

Dr. Toru Nyunoya brings extensive expertise in clinical pulmonary medicine and molecular cell biology, particularly in the areas of oxidative stress, DNA damage, and cigarette smoke (CS)-induced cytotoxicity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). His research is dedicated to unveiling the molecular mechanisms behind CS-induced cellular senescence and identifying critical modulators in the progression of CS-induced COPD. Recognizing that both smoking and aging are influential in the complex pathogenesis of COPD, Dr. Nyunoya has spent decades examining how smoking accelerates cellular aging in the lungs, a primary contributor to COPD.

Dr. Sciurba’s research interest includes volume reduction strategies in patients with advanced emphysema and the use of exercise testing as a diagnostic and outcome tool in lung disease. His research interests focus on the study of COPD in the context of pulmonary and systemic inflammation, the impact of therapy on dynamic hyperinflation, the role of quantitative imaging in the assessment and reclassification of the disease, gender differences and the important role of autoimmunity.

Dr. Sharma’s research aims to identify cellular and molecular mechanisms that provide an advantage to the host by either promoting the pathogen clearance or limiting the pathogen induced tissue damage. His research aims to identify these mechanisms in settings of compromised host such as a host with viral infection or during aging process.