SUMMARY
The research and clinical interests of Robert Vassallo, M.D., focus on the mechanisms by which cigarette smoke and inflammation cause remodeling of the lung's airways and alveolar and interstitial regions.
Specifically, Dr. Vassallo's research focuses on identifying how the airways and lung parenchyma become remodeled in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is characterized by chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and in pulmonary fibrosis.
Focus areas
-
COPD. COPD is a debilitating chronic lung disease caused by cigarette smoking and other exposures. Dr. Vassallo is working with colleagues to understand how cigarette smoking and e-cigarette exposure promote the airway inflammation and scarring typical of chronic bronchitis and the alveolar injury that causes emphysema in people with COPD.
Dr. Vassallo and colleagues use relevant murine disease models and human biospecimen analyses in this research. Ongoing projects explore the inhalational delivery of exosomes via nebulization using a murine model of cigarette smoke-induced emphysema. This work may open doors to new therapeutic and regenerative approaches to treat people with COPD.
-
Pulmonary fibrosis. Smoking induces certain interstitial lung diseases and promotes the development of rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Vassallo and colleagues from Mayo Clinic's Division of Rheumatology and Department of Immunology are studying the mechanisms through which smoking interacts with host genes in the induction of arthritis and lung disease —particularly the lung fibrosis that occurs in some patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Vassallo is working with Veena Taneja, Ph.D., to use a disease model of collagen-induced arthritis to study mechanisms through which smoking promotes immune arthritis development. He is also collaborating with scientists at other institutions to determine mechanisms through which the COVID-19 virus causes long-term lung injury and fibrosis after severe COVID-19 pneumonia.
-
Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Cigarette smoking also causes pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare diffuse lung disease that often affects young adults. Through ongoing research efforts with colleagues at Mayo Clinic and other institutions, Dr. Vassallo is trying to understand the natural history and pathogenesis of this smoking-induced interstitial lung disease and identify new therapeutic approaches to treat it.
Significance to patient care
More than a billion people smoke cigarettes worldwide, and even more people breathe in secondhand smoke. By figuring out exactly how cigarette smoke and secondhand smoke cause long-term lung diseases, Dr. Vassallo aims to help find new ways to treat these diseases that affect millions of people.