​Severe Asthma Research Program
A National Institutes of Health/ National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute sponsored network

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Bruce Levy, MD; Principal Investigator
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, MA 02115
 
George Washko, MD; Co-Investigator
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, MA 02115

Manuela Cernadas, MD; Co-Investigator
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, MA 02115

Boston

The Boston site includes a site for adult participants at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a site for pediatric participants at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Many patients with severe asthma do not respond to corticosteroids.  We examined natural killer (NK) lymphocytes, a type of immune cell, in samples from patients with severe asthma, patients with non-severe asthma, and healthy control subjects.  In patients with severe asthma, we found that NK cells are disabled from resolving inflammation and become outnumbered by other types of immune cells that provoke inflammation.  Treatment with corticosteroids appears to further suppress the ability of severe asthma NK cells to help clear inflammation.  Our research points to immunological differences in responses to steroids in patients with severe asthma, suggesting why corticosteroids may paradoxically perpetuate inflammation in severe asthma.

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 Site Investigators:

Elliot Israel, MD, Principal Investigator
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Boston, MA 02115

Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS;

Pediatric Co-Investigator
Boston Children's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Pediatric Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
Boston, MA 02115

           
Site Coordinators:

Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Victoria Forth

Phone: (617) 732-8112
Email: vforth@bwh.harvard.edu

Boston Children's Hospital

Julianne Saia
Phone: (857) 218-5138
Email: julianne.saia@childrens.harvard.edu