Department of Medicine
Faculty Profiles by Division

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

Faculty Profiles
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photo Sally E. Wenzel, MD

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Professor of Medicine and Immunology

Rachel Carson Chair in Environmental Health

Chair, Department of Occupational & Environmental Health

Acting Director, University of Pittsburgh Asthma Environmental Lung Health Institute@UPMC

Email: swenzel@pitt.edu

Phone: 412-624-8300
Contact
Office: 4126 Public Health
130 DeSoto Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
 
Phone: 412-624-8300
Fax: 412-605-1999
E-mail: swenzel@pitt.edu
Administrative Assistant:
Katie Walters
Email: katie.walters@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-624-8300
Fax: 412-605-1999
Education and Training
Education
BS, University of Florida, 1978
MD, University of Florida, 1981
Training
Internship in Internal Medicine, Wake Forest Univ Baptist Medical Center, 1982
Residency in Internal Medicine, Wake Forest Univ Baptist Medical Center, 1984
Fellowship In Pulmonary Medicine, Medical College of Virginia, 1986
Research Interest
Dr. Wenzel’s laboratory has focused on understanding both the subtypes of human asthma and the combination of environmental and genetic factors which drive them. Research has been intensive on the role of airway epithelial cells in human disease, given the position of these cells to link the environment with the host. Work encompasses use of large epidemiologic/research databases, including those both local and national, to define patient characteristics and relationships to environmental triggers, but also to include studies of specific human immunology, both in human samples and model systems. Current pathways of interest include those related to environmental and innate lung oxidative stress, as well as their intersections with inflammation, mucins and cell death pathways.
Clinical Interest
Dr. Wenzel has had a passion for understanding and improving the treatment of asthma, in particular severe asthma. She served as Chair of the original ATS workshop and the following ERS-ATS guidelines on severe asthma which developed the definition and approaches to treatment of severe asthma. Dr. Wenzel has been listed as one of Castle Connelly’s top doctors in America for over 15 years. She has worked to promote severe asthma as a disease whose pathogenesis goes beyond issues of non-compliance/adherence. Her studies of asthma phenotypes have led the field in understanding the complexities of asthma and she is internationally recognized for her efforts in this area. To this end, she and her colleagues recently described a new asthmatic disease, called “Asthmatic Granulomatosis”. This severe asthma-like disease responds to alternative medications, beyond steroids.
Publications
For my complete bibliography, Click Here.
Selected Publications:
Ray A, Camiolo M, Fitzpatrick A, Gauthier M, Wenzel SE. Are We Meeting the Promise of Endotypes and Precision Medicine in Asthma?. Physiol Rev. 2020; Jul 1;100(3): 983-1017.
Camiolo MJ, Gauthier M, Kaminski N, Ray A, Wenzel SE. Expression of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 and Coincident Host Response Signature Varies by Asthma Inflammatory Phenotype. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020; Jun 9:S0091-6749(20): 30828-9.
Zhao J, Dar HH, Deng Y, St Croix CM, Li Z, Minami Y, Shrivastava IH, Tyurina YY, Etling E, Rosenbaum JC, Nagasaki T, Trudeau JB, Watkins SC, Bahar I, Bayir H, VanDemark AP, Kagan VE, Wenzel SE. PEBP1 acts as a rheostat between prosurvival autophagy and ferroptotic death in asthmatic epithelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020; Jun 8:201921618: doi:10.1073/pnas.1921618117.Epubaheadofprint.
Wenzel, S, Castro, M, Corren, J, Maspero, J, Wang, L, Zhang, B, Pirozzi, G, Sutherland, ER, Evans, RR, Joish,VN, Eckert, L, Graham, NM, Stahl, N, Yancopoulos, GD, Louis-Tisserand, M, Teper, A. Dupilumab efficacy and safety in adults with uncontrolled persistent asthma despite use of medium-to-high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus a long-acting ß2 agonist: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled pivotal phase 2b dose-ranging trial. Lancet. 2016; Jul2;388(10039): 31-44.
Raundhal, M, Morse, C, Khare, A, Oriss, TB, Milosevic, J, Trudeau, J, Huff, R, Pilewski, J, Holguin, F, Kolls, J, Wenzel, S, Ray, P, Ray, A. High IFN-y and low SLPI mark severe asthma in mice and humans. J Clin Invest. 2015; Aug 3;125(8): 3037-50.
Albano, GD, Zhao, J, Etling, EB, Park, SY, Hu, H, Trudeau, JB, Profita, M, Wenzel, SE. IL-13 desensitizes ß2-adrenergic receptors in human airway epithelial cells through a 15-lipoxygenase/G protein receptor kinase 2 mechanism. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015; May;135(5): 1144-53.
Modena, BD, Tedrow, JR, Milosevic, J, Bleeker, ER, Meyers, DA, Wu, W, Bar-Joseph, Z, Erzurum, SC, Gason, BM, Busse, WW, Jarjour, NN, Kaminski, N, Wenzel, SE. Gene expression in relation to exhaled nitric oxide identifies novel asthma phenotypes with unique biomolecular pathways. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014; Dec 15;190(12): 1363-72.
Wu, W, Bleecker, E, Moore, W, Busse, WW, Castro, M, Chung, KF, Calhoun, WJ, Erzurum, S, Gaston, B, Israel, E, Curran-Everett, D, Wenzel, SE. Unsupervised phenotyping of Severe Asthma Research Program participants using expanded lung data. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014; May;133(5): 1280-8.
Wenzel, SE, Wang, L, Pirozzi, G. Dupilumab in persistent asthma. N Engl J Med. 2013; Sep 26;369(13): 1276.
Fajt, ML, Gelhaus, SL, Freeman, B, Uvalle, C, Trudeau, JB, Holguin, F, Wenzel, SE. Prostaglandin D2 pathway upregulation: Relation to asthma severity, control and Th2 inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013; Jun;131(6): 1504-1512.
Sponsored Research/Activities
Title: Type-2 or Not Type-2: That is the (Therapeutic) Question
Role: Principal Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: UG1 HL139098
Start Year: 2017
End Year: 2023
Title: Immune Mediators of IL-22 Signaling Alter Allergic Airway Disease
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL146445
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2025
Title: MUCIN SIALYLATION DRIVES EPITHELIAL CELL SENSECENCE AND SEVERE ASTHMA
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL153058
Start Year: 2020
End Year: 2021
Title: Improving Asthma Control using Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute
Grant Number: R01 HL131587
Start Year: 2017
End Year: 2021
Title: Mechanisms of Antigen-Induced Tolerance in the Lung
Role: Co-Investigator
Funding Agency: National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
Grant Number: R01 AI048927
Start Year: 2016
End Year: 2021
Title: Immune Airway-Epithelial Interactions in Steroid-Refractory Severe Asthma - Project 2
Role: Project Leader
Funding Agency: National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
Grant Number: P01 AI106684
Start Year: 2015
End Year: 2020
Notable Achievements
Ladies Hospital Aid Society Trailblazer Award, 2018
ERS Presidential Award, 2017
ATS Foundation Breathing for LIfe Award, 2016
Member, American Association of Physicians, 2014
ATS Scientific Achievement Award, 2010
Elizabeth Rich Award (ATS), 2005

Division Websites

Cardiology

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

General Internal Medicine

Geriatric Medicine
Hematology/Oncology

Infectious Diseases

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Renal-Electrolyte

Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Contact

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Email:  chairoff@pitt.edu
Phone:  412-648-9636
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