Gabriele Grunig, DVM, PhD

The work in my academic laboratory (established 2000) is focused on the immune mechanisms that can cause lung diseases induced by environmental exposures and that show tissue remodeling and functional changes, as seen, for example, in asthma or pulmonary hypertension. My laboratory studies cytokines and micro-RNAs that regulate the effects of environmental exposures on the immune response and directly or indirectly control the behavior of endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells. The current focus of my work is on immune cells such as T cells (T helper 2, Th17, T regulatory), dendritic cells (cDC, pDC), B cells, eosinophils, vascular cells (endothelial and smooth muscle cells).  My laboratory studies cytokines and micro-RNAs that regulate the immune response, and that direct the behavior of endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells.  We study basic phenomena induced by environmental exposures employing knock-out mice and specific inhibitors of cytokines and micro-RNAs.  ELISA / multiples assays performed in single-, or multi-analyte formats; flow cytometry (surface, intracellular), qPCR analysis, mouse model work including right heart catheterization are essential routine technique in the lab.  During the last few years, I focused my work on the clinical application of the previous basic immunology work in pulmonary hypertension from my laboratory and on environmental causes of pulmonary hypertension. This was accomplished by the participation in the NHLBI - funded PVDOMICS consortium of major pulmonary hypertension centers located in the US studying clinical and molecular omics based phenotyping of pulmonary hypertension; by collaborations with the University of Graz on immune mechanistic studies, and the Universities of Heidelberg and Zurich on micro-RNA markers. Collaborations within our Divisions of Environmental Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine have been focused on adverse effects of environmental and vaping-e-cigarette exposures, and on studies of cohorts of persons exposed to the dust and fumes of the World Trade Center disaster. Following the slow-down due to the COVID-pandemic, my laboratory is fully operating. It is situated at the Manhattan campus of NYU Grossman School of Medicine, this further facilitates my close collaboration with Professor Nolan on the World Trade Center exposure related projects and others related to adverse health effects of pollution.

My major contributions and pioneering findings to the fields of veterinary medicine and medicine are associated with the discovery of the implications of the immune response that integrates environmental and endogenous cues and that has the ability to control the lungs’ health thereby determining diseases of the airways (asthma), vasculature (pulmonary hypertension) and alveoli (emphysema). Because of my work in biotechnology, I contributed to the development of drugs that target the IL-4 receptor (receptor for IL-4, IL-13), or IL-5 and that have become successful in medical practice.  My current work continues to focus on efforts to bring findings from the bench to translation towards the bedside / public health, focusing on conditions caused, or exacerbated by environmental exposures.