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Michael Holtzman

URL: http://mednews.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/179.html

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Gwen Ericson
Assistant Director of Research Communications
ericsong@wustl.edu
(314) 286-0141

Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine

Expertise: airway diseases, allergies, asthma, pulmonary disease, respiratory disease, viral response

Bio:
Michael Holtzman
Holtzman
Holtzman is renowned for his research into the underlying cause of asthma, and has proposed a new model of the disease that incorporates the role of a viral response early in life.

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News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Better lung treatment

Personalized therapy for asthma and COPD could soon be here (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11806.html)

May 18, 2008 -- Researchers at the School of Medicine have defined a new type of immune response that is activated in patients with severe asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Their discovery could dramatically improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease.


Lung research

$14.9 million to study how genes, viruses and cigarettes contribute to chronic lung disease (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/8525.html)

Jan. 18, 2007 --
The pink color in the image on the right highlights cells producing excess mucus, a symptom of COPD. The image on the left shows normal lung tissue.
The pink color in the image on the right highlights cells producing excess mucus, a symptom of COPD. The image on the left shows normal lung tissue.
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Physicians say that smoking is by far the biggest cause of emphysema, but why doesn't every smoker get the disease? If you asked WUSM physician Michael Holtzman that question, he might answer that for most cases of emphysema you need a mix of genes, viruses and cigarettes. Emphysema and the associated condition of chronic bronchitis are both disorders that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.


Research center funded

$7.7 million devoted to finding cause and cure for asthma (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/8327.html)

Nov. 28, 2006 -- A $7.7 million grant will establish a new center for asthma research at the School of Medicine. Directed by Michael J. Holtzman, M.D., the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine, the center will investigate the cause of asthma to develop new treatments for the disease. The center's funding comes from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), one of the National Institutes of Health.


Better breathing

Two-drug treatment may block source of asthma and chronic bronchitis (http://mednews.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/6495.html)

Feb. 1, 2006 -- Current treatments for asthma and chronic bronchitis aren't able to address the ultimate source of the problem — they can only alleviate symptoms. But researchers at the School of Medicine have gone to the root of these disorders and found a two-drug treatment that could potentially restore patients' troubled airways to healthy function.


Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

Gene causes immune cells to 'jail' flu viruses, may increase resistance (http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392731)

Feb. 1, 2006 -- An abundance of a gene that causes certain immune cells to act like jail cells for flu viruses may make some people more resistant to infection. Michael Holtzman, director of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, presents his ideas on how flu viruses infect cells in the following article from ScienCentral.



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Treatment may aid asthma sufferers
Los Angeles Times and 61 others

Feb. 2, 2006 -- A two-drug treatment may one day help restore healthy breathing in those with asthma and chronic bronchitis, according to a WUSTL study led by researcher Michael Holtzman. Holtzman and other researchers found that some cells lining the air passages of the lungs transform into another cell type in mice and humans with those disorders, leading to the overproduction of mucus in the airways.



Additional Background: Holtzman's research focuses on the biological events that contribute to the development of asthma. His research has led to the proposal of a new model of the disease, which suggests that a combination of factors including genetics, allergies and a previously unidentified component - viruses - all may contribute to the development of asthma. His team found that a viral infection early in life often leads to chronic, respiratory illness later in childhood.
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