Farrah Kheradmand, M.D.

Professor
Department of Medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine)

Dr. Kheradmand's nomination was based on her study of emphysema, the third leading cause of death in the United States. With most of her clinical work taking place at the Michael E. DeBakey, M.D. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Dr. Kheradmand has used patient samples to characterize the immune make up of those who have this deadly disease, contributing to the pipeline for translational research at the DeBakey VA Medical Center. Using a pre-clinical model of emphysema in mice, she has found that the product of T-cells in the emphysema-stricken lungs start the chemical cascade that results in focal lung collapse, a hallmark of the disease. A second study demonstrated the autoimmune basis of emphysema and a third showed that reduced levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in smoker’s lung promotes emphysema through the release of a particular cytokine that enhances the autoimmune effect. In addition, work with her collaborator Dr. David Corry has enabled her to make seminal discoveries in the area of asthma. The work of Dr. Kheradmand has major implications for the future understanding and treatment of major lung disease.

Dr. Kheradmand's nomination was based on the following publications:

Shan M, You R, Yuan X, Frazier MV, Porter P, Seryshev A, Hong JS, Song LZ, Zhang Y, Hilsenbeck S, Whitehead L, Zarinkamar N, Perusich S, Corry DB, Kheradmand F. Agonistic induction of PPAR? reverses cigarette smoke-induced emphysema. J Clin Invest. 2014 Mar;124(3):1371-81. doi: 10.1172/JCI70587. Epub 2014 Feb 24. PubMed PMID: 24569375; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3934169.

Shan M, Yuan X, Song LZ, Roberts L, Zarinkamar N, Seryshev A, Zhang Y, Hilsenbeck S, Chang SH, Dong C, Corry DB, Kheradmand F. Cigarette smoke induction of osteopontin (SPP1) mediates T(H)17 inflammation in human and experimental emphysema. Sci Transl Med. 2012 Jan 18;4(117):117ra9. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003041. PubMed PMID: 22261033; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3956594.

Xu C, Hesselbacher S, Tsai CL, Shan M, Spitz M, Scheurer M, Roberts L, Perusich S, Zarinkamar N, Coxson H, Krowchuk N, Corry DB, Kheradmand F. Autoreactive T Cells in Human Smokers is Predictive of Clinical Outcome. Front Immunol. 2012 Aug 27;3:267. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00267. eCollection 2012. PubMed PMID: 22969766; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3428109.