Dr. Segal is director of the Lung Microbiome Program, and an associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine. He received his MD from Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina and his master of science from New York University. He is licensed in pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. He is the principal investigator of multiple projects obtaining lower airway samples through research bronchoscopies as well as through clinically-indicated bronchoscopy. These projects include subjects with different pulmonary conditions where one can use multiple culture independent assays to uncover bacteria presence in the lower airways and how they affect the host immune tone.

Dr. Tsay is the director of the NYU Lung Cancer Biomarker Center and assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from Temple University, completed her internal medicine residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at NYU/Bellevue. He completed a master of science in clinical investigation at NYU. His research interest includes lung cancer screening and biomarker, lung field of cancerization in lung cancer, and role of lung microbiome in lung cancer.

Benjamin G. Wu is an instructor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. His interest in research started in the laboratory of Dr. Melissa Spencer at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was trained in the laboratory science techniques and was inspired to pursue a career in translational research to dissect mechanisms. During his residency training he pursued pulmonary research with Drs. Leopoldo N. Segal and Martin J. Blaser. His research focuses on the use of in vivo murine models and ex vivo microbiological methods to assess host-microbial interactions. He has expertise in the use of bioinformatic tools to dissect the model organisms and their response to human oral commensals. Ben continues to work in human clinical trials.

Dr. Sulaiman is an adjunct professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He received his MD from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and did his internal medicine residency and a pulmonary fellowship in Ireland. Dr. Sulaiman also completed his PhD in Ireland where he studied the impact of inhaler adherence on clinical outcomes in both asthma and COPD patient populations. It was here that he began developing skills in trial design, data management, statistics and bioinformatics. He then began a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at NYU where he began working with Dr. Leopoldo N. Segal. His research thus far has focused on the host-microbial interactions in bronchiectasis and lung cancer with a special interest in functional microbiomics.

Dr. Brosnahan is an attending physician in both Tisch Medical ICU and Pulmonary Service. She received her medical degree from University of Texas Health Science Center- San Antonio, completed her internal medicine residency at Temple. After coming to NYU for her pulmonary and critical care fellowship where she was chief fellow, she joined the faculty in 2017. She completed a master of science in clinical investigation at NYU. She is an assistant program director for the fellowship program and the director of the Tisch Inpatient pulmonary consult rotations. Her research interests include acute and chronic pulmonary embolism, COVID coagulopathy, and ICU outcomes.

Dr. Natalini is an assistant professor of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a transplant pulmonologist at NYU Langone Health. His research focuses on understanding patient risk factors for acute and chronic rejection after lung transplantation. Specially, he studies molecular signatures arising from microbial-host interactions in the lungs and their ability to predict clinical outcomes after transplant. As a member of the NYU Langone Translational Lung Biology Laboratory, he oversees a large prospective registry of lung transplant recipients, as well as an expansive biorepository of upper and lower airway samples and peripheral blood samples. He received his medical degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and completed an internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco. He subsequently moved back to Philadelphia for a fellowship in pulmonary and critical medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, during which he obtained a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Dr. Singh is an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Kolkata, India (MBBS) and then moved to the University of Cambridge to undertake her clinical medical training (MRCP, UK). During her training, she was awarded a Medical Research Council (UK) scholarship to investigate the signaling pathways that regulate matrix metalloproteinase-driven tissue destruction in pulmonary tuberculosis. After completing her PhD at Imperial College London, Shivani relocated to the US to further her research pursuits on mycobacterial lung infections. Her current projects focus on the host-microbiome interface that drives disease progression in tuberculous and non-tuberculous mycobacterial lung diseases.

Dr. Kugler is an assistant professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at NYU School of Medicine. He received his Medical Degree from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen in Germany. For his doctorate degree (Dr. med.), which received Summa cum laude, he worked on the role of Rho-GTPases in breast cancer. During his time as postdoctoral fellow at UCSF under mentorship of Dr. Harold Chapman, a leading expert on the field of cell-matrix interactions and epithelial progenitor functions in lung injury, he studied the role of epithelial cells and their signals in the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Following his clinical training at NYUGSOM, he joined the NYU faculty in 2012 and established his laboratory. His work over the past years has been to better understand the molecular signatures of pulmonary fibrosis and cellular origin in pathophysiologically relevant mouse models, in order to elucidate novel mechanisms and targets to improve IPF therapy. Here at NYU he has focused on the pathomechanistic role of developmental signaling pathways with fibrogenic properties, including Hedgehog and PDGF.

Dr. Barnett is an instructor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a critical care physician in the Bellevue Hospital’s Medical ICU. After completing her medical degree at the NYU School of Medicine, she went to New York Presbyterian/Columbia University for her training in Internal Medicine. She then returned to the NYU Grossman School of Medicine to complete her fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. During her fellowship, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Barnett joined the Segal lab to focus on the role of the microbiome and host-microbial interactions in the critically ill. Since completing her fellowship, Dr. Barnett continues this work in the Segal Lab in addition to her clinical responsibilities in the Medical ICU.

Dr. Kwok is a clinical instructor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a staff physician at the NYU Langone Tisch/Kimmel Medical ICU. He received his medical degree from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and completed his internal medicine, pulmonary, and critical care medicine training at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Kwok joined the Segal lab during his fellowship training. His research interests include investigating the interactions of the lung microbiome and host immune response in thoracic oncology.

Dr. Nelson is an assistant professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a staff physician at the NYU Langone Faculty Group Practice with a clinical focus on interstitial lung disease and sarcoidosis. He received his medical degree from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and completed both his internal medicine residency and pulmonary critical care fellowship training at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He joined the lab during his fellowship training and has been participating in the investigation of lung microbiome and host signatures following lung transplantation as well as in sarcoidosis and interstitial lung disease.

Dr. Wong is an assistant professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and an attending physician at NYU Langone-Brooklyn Medical ICU and Pulmonary Service. He received his medical degree from Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, completed his internal medicine residency at George Washington University and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at NYU. Dr. Wong joined the Segal Lab during his fellowship and trained under Dr. Leopoldo N. Segal in bioinformatics analytical techniques to explore functional signature of airway microbiomes and metabolomes. His clinical interests include pathogenesis and disease progression of COPD and sarcoidosis.

Dr. Darawshy is an attending physician in the Pulmonary Institute at Hadassah Medical Center, Israel, and a research associate in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He received his MD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and did his internal medicine residency and a pulmonary fellowship at Hadassah Medical Center, Israel. His research interests include understanding the microbiome role and host-microbial interactions in lung cancer, with a particular interest in identifying biomarkers of detection and prognosis in lung cancer.

Dr. Chung is a postdoctoral research fellow recently recruited from Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Germany. Her previous work focused on examining the host-microbe association in the murine lung, providing the first evidence of contribution of host genetics to a variation in the murine lung microbial traits. Her research focuses on the mechanism of host response to infection in association with lower airway microbiome by utilizing preclinical mouse model and multi-omics bioinformatics tools.

Dr. Li received PhD from Shanghai Second Medical University in China, after which he conducted postdoctoral research at Mie University School of Medicine in Japan. His postdoc work centered on T cell activation, differentiation and cell cycle progression. Subsequently, he contributed to research efforts at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and Roswell Park Cancer Institute, concentrating on unraveling immune suppression mechanisms within tumor environments. Dr. Li advanced to roles as a research assistant professor and assistant professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University of Louisville. His focus shifted to cancer immunology and immunotherapy particularly investigating dysfunctional immunity’s role lung cancer development and strategies to rejuvenate host immunity against lung cancer. His current research combines studies of genetically engineered mouse models and studies of human tumors and with a major focus on understanding the cellular components of tumor microenvironment that influence immunotherapy response, especially to immune checkpoint blockade therapy.

Yonghua Li is a senior research scientist and lab manager for the NYU Langone Translational Lung Biology Laboratory. Dr. Li obtained her MD from Qingdao Medical University in Shandong, China in 1987. She then got her PhD in 2005, from the Health Science Medical Center, Peking University in Beijing, working on microbiology. She came to United States in 2006 and worked in HIV related research within the Pediatric Department at NYU. In 2014, she joined the Segal Lab as senior research scientist.

Ms. Schluger received her nursing training at the Mercy Hospital in Cork, Ireland. She worked primarily as a surgical nurse, and received additional training as a nurse anesthetist. She came to the United States in 1992, working at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Rosemary began working in research in 1994 at the Rockefeller University, doing pioneering work in HIV anti-retroviral therapy. She then worked in the Laboratory of the Biology of the Addictive Diseases assisting in studies ranging from the neuroendocrine physiology to the genetics of drug addiction. Rosemary came to NYU in 2015, initially to the department of Gastroenterology. Since 2017 she has been the senior research nurse for the pulmonary department. She is the primary liaison for the lab’s clinical activities: identifying, consenting and enrolling patients; collecting samples and managing data, and coordinating with other laboratories and clinicians.

Dr. Chang received her Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University in Springfield Illinois. She continued her postdoc training at NYU and studied prostate stem cell regeneration in Dr. Elaine Wilson’s lab and immune regulation of congenital heart block in Dr. Jill Buyon’s lab. She joined Dr. Segal lab in 2021 and her research interests focused on 1. How lung microbiome affects lung cancer progression 2. Immune modulation in lung cancer.

Mr. Yie is an associate research scientist. He received his MS from Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Beijing in China, in 1985. His initial positions include research scientist at Albert-Einstein Medical Center, Columbia University and Mount Sinai School of Medicine before joining NYUGSOM in 1994. There he has worked for many years in the laboratory of the previous division chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care at NYU, Dr. William Rom, where he was his assigned lab manager and in charge of his lung cancer EDRN repository. He joined the lab of Dr. Kugler in 2016 and has been managing his lab since then. His in vivo expertise covers management of animal colonies including animal monitoring, pregnancy timing, various drug administration techniques, and experimental models. His invitro technical skills include genotyping PCR, qRT-PCR, molecular cloning, cell culture, processing and preservation of lung tissue, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence of frozen and paraffin-embedded tissues, and imaging.

After graduating from Lehman College with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Destiny joined the lab in 2020 as an assistant research technician. She assists with the lung cancer project, mouse studies, and sample processing. Additionally, Destiny conducts data analysis for our Long COVID research project. She is currently focused on gaining research experience with a life-long interest in translational research.

Yaa joined our team as an associate research technician after graduating from Northeastern University in 2020. She is an essential part of helping translate our clinical research results into a mouse model. She is focused on gaining translational research experience before pursuing a PhD in the future.

After graduating from Rutgers University in 2020, Raj joined the team in December 2021 as an Assistant Research Technician with interests in gaining clinical lab experience. He has assisted with clinical sample processing and mouse studies, while contributing to numerous other clinical research projects within the lab. Outside the lab, he is a volunteer EMT and enjoys cooking as a hobby. He is currently focused on gaining research and clinical experience while pursuing acceptance into PA school.

Graduating from the University at Albany in 2021, Colin joined the Segal Lab in 2022 as an associate research technician. He joined the team to explore and obtain hands on laboratory experience that was missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since joining, he has taken on mouse colony management for the lung cancer dysbiosis project and hopes to continue acquiring more skills within the lab. Outside of the lab, he enjoys live music and fishing.

After graduating from Fordham University in 2020, Kelsey came to the Segal Lab as a clinical research coordinator for the study severe acute respiratory infection-preparedness (SARI-Prep). She is an integral part in initiating the enrollment, clinical data analysis, and biological sample collection for our SARS-CoV-2 study and clinical trial. She is focused on gaining research experience while pursuing acceptance into medical school.

After graduating from the University of Central Florida, Bella joined the team in March 2022 as a research data associate supporting the enrollment and clinical data entry for our NTM / Bronchiectasis clinical program. She has a life-long interest in medicine and is currently focused on gaining clinical research experience.

Ms. Porter joined the Segal Lab in 2021 after graduating from Florida State University. She is a research data associate supporting the enrollment, clinical data collection, and biological sample collection for our NTM/Bronchiectasis program. She is focused on gaining research experience while pursuing her interest in medicine.

After graduating from High Point University in 2021, Matt worked as a dental assistant to gain experience in the medical field. This sparked his interest in patient care and cancer research. He joined the team in 2022 as the research coordinator for the NYU Lung Cancer Screening Biomarker study. He is now deciding to pursue a career in dentistry or as a physician assistant.

Ms. Harris graduated from Pennsylvania University; her passion in life is music, in-parallel she has been instrumental in supporting the NTM/Bronchiectasis clinical program as a research data associate, overseeing the clinical data entry for our expansive bronchiectasis cohort.

Yicheng did his undergraduate studies at Rutgers University and received his medical education from St. George's University School of Medicine. As a research data associate Yicheng supports the enrollment and data entry for our NTM/ Bronchiectasis clinical trials and translational research. He plans to eventually transition to an internal medicine residency training program.

A graduate of Trinity College, Joe joined the team as a research data associate in February 2023 supporting the enrollment, clinical data collection, and biological sample collection for our lung transplant project. He, like many of our research team members, is pursuing a career in medicine.