Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD Hear my name
Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, Amherst College

Pronouns: he/him/his



Our work focuses on immunology in the lung and its influence on acute lower respiratory tract infections. Our research is illuminating the regulation and function of innate and adaptive immune cells and signals in the lung, and how variations in these parameters determine pneumonia susceptibility and outcome. Lung defense consists of immune resistance (the ability to eliminate microbes) and tissue resilience (the ability to prevent or withstand injurious stimuli from infection and inflammation). Both activities are accomplished by the coordinated activities of diverse cell types within the lung, involving some that are constitutively present (including diverse types of epithelial cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, and more) as well as others newly recruited to the infected tissue (including neutrophils plus additional myeloid or lymphoid cells). Effective and productive communication amongst these cells can efficiently destroy microbes without damaging the lung, maintaining respiratory health. Dysregulation of these pathways instead promotes infection (e.g., pneumonia), injury (e.g., the acute respiratory distress syndrome), and other pulmonary diseases. Elucidating factors that differentiate lung infection resistance and susceptibility will enable new approaches to preventing and treating pneumonia.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility

I care deeply about diversity as the Pulmonary Center Director, as Principal Investigator of a research team, and as a person who believes this involves fundamental human rights. Diversity strengthens groups, making them more creative, more open, more supportive, more positive, more joyous, more insightful, more productive, and more sustaining. Forces that oppose or constrain diversity are toxic and need to be countered. I actively work to build diversity in our teams. I encourage suggestions for how we can do so better. Fostering diversity requires equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Principles of DEIA are driving factors for us as we build teams and work together in the Center and the laboratory.

The Pulmonary Center includes researchers, clinicians, educators, and administrators who are dedicated to the principles of DEIA. Our Center houses multiple enterprises created specifically to improve diversity. Our Racial Equity Committee includes faculty, trainees, and staff who meet regularly to envision and enact ways we can improve DEIA in the Pulmonary Center. As part of this persistent effort for improvement, this committee provides a monthly racial equity educational program for everyone in the Center, involving readings, seminars, and interactive workshops. All in the Center participate. The Pulmonary Center’s Social Justice Forum was created by our trainees, beginning as a series of meetings to discuss among themselves injustices and how to overcome them and which evolved into a visiting speaker series inviting scientists from under-represented groups to share what they recognize as obstacles faced, individual strategies for success, and institutional opportunities for improvement. The Pulmonary Center houses a Faculty Recruitment Diversity Committee, and all faculty searches coordinate activities with this standing committee in order to ensure that the principles of DEIA consistently and effectively guide and inform the processes and outcomes of our recruitment efforts. The Center houses a T32 training program that trains predoctoral and postdoctoral PhD, MD, and MD/PhD researchers and has been funded by the NIH for 50 years; a critical component of this program is its major emphasis and concerted attention on increasing diversity in its trainee pool. A contributing factor in the long-term success of this program is its commitment to training diverse groups of students and fellows to strengthen the scientific work-force.

As PI, I lead a research team that is dynamic by design, with members changing regularly, but this research team is always inclusive and diverse in multiple ways. Current and former members have self-identified as black, brown, LatinX, Asian, white, mixed, or other. Trainees have included recent immigrants as well as citizens of Canada, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Togo, or Venezuela. Half of all current and former doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows mentored have been female, and a third have been persons of color. Many of our current and former team are members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The first deaf student to receive a PhD from the BU School of Medicine, to our knowledge, was from our lab group and broke a barrier in diversity that others now follow. We modify our research team schedules, spaces, and activities to bolster accessibility for varying needs, for example to accommodate disabilities or religious practices. Team members bring highly varied life experiences and perspectives, including those who are deeply religious (and from different faiths) or atheist, who are from disadvantaged or wealthier backgrounds, who are single or with intense family demands, who tilt liberal or conservative, and more. The group always includes members from different training stages (e.g., at any one time there may be high school students, college students, Master’s students, MD students, PhD and MD/PhD students, PhD and MD/PhD postdocs, MD clinical fellows, junior faculty, and/or visiting faculty), which provides an enriching mixture of ages and experiences. We are active in institutional initiatives designed to foster diversity in science, such as BUSM’s Summer Training for Research Scholars (STaRS) Program. All of our lab team value and celebrate diversity. While grateful for the diversity our research teams have accomplished through the present, we are far from satisfied and strive to continue improving diversity in our current and coming teams and in tomorrow’s scientific research community.

Director
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Pulmonary Center


Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Biochemistry & Cell Biology


Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Virology, Immunology & Microbiology


Member
Boston University
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research


Member
Boston University
Genome Science Institute


Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences




Fibrin in the Infected Lung
02/15/2024 - 01/31/2028 (PI)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
1R01HL171499-01

LOX-1 as a protective countermeasure in response to lung infection
06/15/2023 - 05/31/2027 (Subcontract PI)
University of Massachusetts, Medical School NIH NHLBI
1R01HL165718-01A1

Pulmonary pathophysiology sub-phenotypes of pneumonia
02/01/2022 - 01/31/2027 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
5R01AI162850-03

Biology of the Lung: A Multidisciplinary Program
07/01/2021 - 06/30/2026 (Multi-PI)
PI: Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5T32HL007035-48

Sub-phenotyping pneumonia by lung pathobiology
09/01/2023 - 08/31/2025 (Key Person / Mentor)
PI: Bradley E. Hiller, Ph.D.
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
1F32HL170650-01

Lung-resident antibacterial heterotypic immunity
07/01/2019 - 06/30/2025 (PI)
NIH/National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
5R01AI115053-09

Protective lung memory B cell functions and dynamics during respiratory infection
06/01/2021 - 05/31/2025 (Key Person / Mentor)
PI: Neelou Etesami
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5F30HL158109-04

Pneumonia Biology
01/11/2017 - 12/31/2024 (PI)
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5R35HL135756-07

PASC Pathobiology: long-term remodeling after acute infection
03/01/2022 - 02/29/2024 (Subcontract PI)
President & Fellows of Harvard College on behalf of Harvard Medical School China Evergrande Gr


The B cell repertoire as a window into the nature and impact of the lung virome
05/01/2019 - 04/30/2023 (Multi-PI)
PI: Joseph P. Mizgerd, ScD
NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
5R33HL137081-05

Showing 10 of 26 results. Show All Results


Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2024 Fibrin in the Infected Lung 1R01HL171499-01
2024 Pulmonary pathophysiology sub-phenotypes of pneumonia 5R01AI162850-03
2024 Biology of the Lung: A Multidisciplinary Program 5T32HL007035-49
2023 Pulmonary pathophysiology sub-phenotypes of pneumonia 5R01AI162850-02
2023 Pneumonia Biology 5R35HL135756-07
2023 Lung-resident antibacterial heterotypic immunity 5R01AI115053-09
2023 Biology of the Lung: A Multidisciplinary Program 5T32HL007035-48
2022 Pulmonary pathophysiology sub-phenotypes of pneumonia 1R01AI162850-01A1
2022 Pneumonia Biology 5R35HL135756-06
2022 Lung-resident antibacterial heterotypic immunity 5R01AI115053-08
Showing 10 of 65 results. Show All Results

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

iCite Analysis       Copy PMIDs To Clipboard

  1. Hiller BE, Mizgerd JP. IFN-? and YAP lead epithelial cells astray after severe respiratory infection. J Clin Invest. 2024 Oct 01; 134(19).View Related Profiles. PMID: 39352386; PMCID: PMC11444161; DOI: 10.1172/JCI185072;
     
  2. Auld SC, Sheshadri A, Alexander-Brett J, Aschner Y, Barczak AK, Basil MC, Cohen KA, Dela Cruz C, McGroder C, Restrepo MI, Ridge KM, Schnapp LM, Traber K, Wunderink RG, Zhang D, Ziady A, Attia EF, Carter J, Chalmers JD, Crothers K, Feldman C, Jones BE, Kaminski N, Keane J, Lewinsohn D, Metersky M, Mizgerd JP, Morris A, Ramirez J, Samarasinghe AE, Staitieh BS, Stek C, Sun J, Evans SE. Postinfectious Pulmonary Complications: Establishing Research Priorities to Advance the Field: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2024 Sep; 21(9):1219-1237.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39051991
     
  3. Lee MM, Zuo Y, Steiling K, Mizgerd JP, Kalesan B, Walkey AJ. Clinical risk factors and blood protein biomarkers of 10-year pneumonia risk. PLoS One. 2024; 19(7):e0296139.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38968193; PMCID: PMC11226120; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296139;
     
  4. Ysasi AB, Engler AE, Bawa PS, Wang F, Conrad RD, Yeung AK, Rock JR, Beane-Ebel J, Mazzilli SA, Franklin RA, Mizgerd JP, Murphy GJ. A specialized population of monocyte-derived tracheal macrophages promote airway epithelial regeneration through a CCR2-dependent mechanism. iScience. 2024 Jul 19; 27(7):110169.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38993668; PMCID: PMC11238131; DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110169;
     
  5. Etesami NS, Barker KA, Shenoy AT, De Ana CL, Arafa EI, Grifno GN, Matschulat AM, Vannini ME, Pihl RMF, Breen MP, Soucy AM, Goltry WN, Ha CT, Betsuyaku H, Browning JL, Varelas X, Traber KE, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Maglione PJ, Nia HT, Belkina AC, Mizgerd JP. B cells in the pneumococcus-infected lung are heterogeneous and require CD4+ T cell help including CD40L to become resident memory B cells. Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1382638.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38715601; PMCID: PMC11074383; DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1382638;
     
  6. Lee MM, Zuo Y, Steiling K, Mizgerd JP, Kalesan B, Walkey AJ. Clinical risk factors and blood protein biomarkers of 10-year pneumonia risk. medRxiv. 2023 Dec 09.View Related Profiles. PMID: 38105941; PMCID: PMC10723561; DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.07.23299678;
     
  7. Lyon De Ana C, Shenoy AT, Barker KA, Arafa EI, Etesami NS, Korkmaz FT, Soucy AM, Breen MP, Martin IMC, Tilton BR, Devarajan P, Crossland NA, Pihl RMF, Goltry WN, Belkina AC, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Mizgerd JP. GL7 ligand expression defines a novel subset of CD4+ TRM cells in lungs recovered from pneumococcus. Mucosal Immunol. 2023 Oct; 16(5):699-710.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37604254; PMCID: PMC10591822; DOI: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2023.07.004;
     
  8. Banerji R, Grifno GN, Shi L, Smolen D, LeBourdais R, Muhvich J, Eberman C, Hiller BE, Lee J, Regan K, Zheng S, Zhang S, Jiang J, Raslan AA, Breda JC, Pihl R, Traber K, Mazzilli S, Ligresti G, Mizgerd JP, Suki B, Nia HT. Crystal ribcage: a platform for probing real-time lung function at cellular resolution. Nat Methods. 2023 Nov; 20(11):1790-1801.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37710017; PMCID: PMC10860663; DOI: 10.1038/s41592-023-02004-9;
     
  9. Aihara F, Wang Y, Belkina AC, Fearns R, Mizgerd JP, Feng F, Kepler TB. Diversity of B Cell Populations and Ig Repertoire in Human Lungs. J Immunol. 2023 Aug 01; 211(3):486-496.View Related Profiles. PMID: 37314411; PMCID: PMC10352589; DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200340;
     
  10. Center DM, Mizgerd JP. In Memoriam: Jerome S. Brody, M.D., A Red Journal Founder. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2023 May; 68(5):465-466.View Related Profiles. PMID: 36780672; PMCID: PMC10174165; DOI: 10.1165/rcmb.2023-0044ED;
     
Showing 10 of 146 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 146 publications over 30 distinct years, with a maximum of 14 publications in 2012

YearPublications
19952
19962
19971
19983
19994
20001
20014
20024
20032
20044
20053
20064
20075
20084
20098
20105
201110
201214
20134
20145
20154
20162
201711
20184
20193
20205
202111
20227
20235
20245

2023 American Thoracic Society: Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishment
2021 BU: Jerome S. Brody, MD, Professor of Pulmonary Medicine
2021 American Thoracic Society: Scientific Accomplishment Award for Allergy, Immunology & Inflammation
2020 BU: University Lecture
2018 American Thoracic Society: ATS Fellow
2017 NIH: NHLBI Outstanding Investigator
2017 BUSM Department of Medicine: Robert Dawson Evans Research Mentoring Award
1999 Francis Families Foundation: Parker B. Francis Fellow in Pulmonary Research
1998 American Lung Association: Edward Livingston Trudeau Scholar

Available to Mentor as: (Review Mentor Role Definitions):
  • Co-Mentor or Peer Mentor
  • Diversity Mentor
  • Research / Scholarly Mentor
Contact for Mentoring:
  • Email (see 'Contact Info')

72 E. Concord St Housman (R)
Boston MA 02118
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