Amit Gaggar MD, PhD

Dr. Gaggar is a Staff Physician at the Birmingham VA Health Care System where his research focuses on the role of proteases/antiproteases in the pathophysiology of chronic lung diseases.  His group has made seminal observations to unique pathways that augment neutrophilic inflammation and cellular dysfunction via proteolytic dysfunction.  Further, his group also examines neutrophil phenotypes and chronic lung disease, including defining immunoregulatory neutrophil subsets and novel effector molecules derived from these cells. These findings, along with the central translational themes in his pulmonary and critical care research, highlight the collaborative and integrated nature of Dr. Gaggar’s research program.  Their work integrates both airway and vascular injury, and examines unique potential therapeutic pathways for disease modulation.

Education

• BS, University of Michigan
• MD, University of Michigan
• PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Research Interests

• Neutrophilic inflammation in chronic lung diseases
• Protease impact in lung disease
• Matrikines in lung disease
• Biomarkers and therapeutic targeting in chronic lung disease
• Biology of organ transplantation

Recent Publications

• Sharma NS, Vestal G, Wille K, Patel KN, Cheng F, Tipparaju S, Tousif S, Banday MM, Xu X, Wilson L, Nair VS, Morrow C, Hayes D Jr, Seyfang A, Barnes S, Deshane JS, Gaggar A.  Differences in airway microbiome and metabolome of single lung transplant recipients, Resp Research 2020 May 6;21(1):104.
• Payne GA, Sharma NS, Lal CV, Song C, Guo L, Margaroli C, Viera L, Kumar S, Li J, Xing D, Bosley M, Xu X, Wells JM, George J, Tallaj J, Leesar M, Blalock JE, Gaggar A*. Prolyl endopeptidase contributes to early neutrophilic inflammation in acute cardiac transplant rejection. JCI Insight, 2020.
• Bratcher PE, Rowe SM, Reeves G, Roberts T, Szul T, Harris WT, Tirouvanziam R, Gaggar A. Alterations in blood leukocytes of G551D-bearing cystic fibrosis patients undergoing treatment with ivacaftor. J Cystic Fibrosis 15(1):67-73, 2016.
• Kong MY, Clancy JP, Peng N, Li Y, Xu X, Ambalvanam N, Sullender W, Blalock JE, Gaggar A. Pulmonary MMP-9 activity in mechanically ventilated children with RSV, Eur Resp J 43(4): 1086-1096, 2014.
• Gaggar A, Chen J, Chmiel JF, Dorkin HL, Flume PA, Griffin R, Nichols D, Donaldson SH. Inhaled alpha1-proteinase inhibitor therapy in patients with cystic fibrosis. J Cystic Fibrosis, S1569-1993(15):00171, 2015