James Gern
Credentials: MD
Position title: Professor
Email: gern@medicine.wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 263-6201
Address:
K4/918 CSC
600 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53792
Focus Groups
Immunology/Immunopathology
Education
MD, University of Southern Florida, Tampa
Pediatrics: SUNY-Syracuse, Tufts University
Allergy/Immunology, John Hopkins University
Research Summary
To define the role of viral infections in the initiation and disease activity of asthma, and to identify interactions between host and viral factors that determine the severity of respiratory illnesses
Research Detail
Dr. Gern leads several NIH-funded studies to define the role of viral infections in the initiation and disease activity of asthma, and to identify interactions between host, viral and enviornmental factors that determine the severity of respiratory illnesses. He leads the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) study for the Inner-City Asthma Consortium, the Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort in Marshfield, and a consortium of asthma birth cohorts as part of the national ECHO study. The goals of the birth cohort studies are to identify lifestyle and environmental factors (including viral infections) unique to the urban and farming environments that influence early immune development which modify the risks for allergic diseases and asthma. Dr. Gern also leads translational research projects to identify virus-induced inflammatory mechanisms involving airway epithelial cells. Finally, The Gern lab group is conducting experiments to define the basic biology of a newly discovered species of rhinovirus (RV-C) that provokes wheezing episodes and exacerbations of asthma.