Joseph P. Mizgerd ScD
Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Director, Pulmonary Center
72 E. Concord Street | (617) 358-1186jmizgerd@bu.edu

Sections
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Centers
Pulmonary Center
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
Biography
Our work focuses on immunology in the lung and its influence on acute lower respiratory tract infections. Our research is illuminating the regulation and function of innate and adaptive immune cells and signals in the lung, and how variations in these parameters determine pneumonia susceptibility and outcome. Lung defense consists of immune resistance (the ability to eliminate microbes) and tissue resilience (the ability to prevent or withstand injurious stimuli from infection and inflammation). Both activities are accomplished by the coordinated activities of diverse cell types within the lung, involving some that are constitutively present (including diverse types of epithelial cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, and more) as well as others newly recruited to the infected tissue (including neutrophils plus additional myeloid or lymphoid cells). Effective and productive communication amongst these cells can efficiently destroy microbes without damaging the lung, maintaining respiratory health. Dysregulation of these pathways instead promotes infection (e.g., pneumonia), injury (e.g., the acute respiratory distress syndrome), and other pulmonary diseases. Elucidating factors that differentiate lung infection resistance and susceptibility will enable new approaches to preventing and treating pneumonia.
Other Positions
Education
Cell & Molecular Biology, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
Biology, BA, Amherst College
Publications
Harlow OS, Ravi VR, Ke F, Sanders NL, Armstrong E, Mizgerd JP, Shenoy AT. The mysterious case of missing lymphocytes: a cautionary tale of inter-institutional variability in outcomes of lung dissociation protocols. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol. 2025 Jan 09. PMID: 39786964.
Published on 12/11/2024Yin J, Hayes KM, Ong MS, Mizgerd JP, Cunningham-Rundles C, Dominguez I, Barmettler S, Farmer JR, Maglione PJ. Common Variable Immunodeficiency Clinical Manifestations Are Shaped by Presence and Type of Heterozygous NFKB1 Variants. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2024 Dec 11. PMID: 39672378.
Published on 11/20/2024Deshmukh H, Whitsett J, Zacharias W, Way SS, Martinez FD, Mizgerd J, Pryhuber G, Ambalavanan N, Bacharier L, Natarajan A, Tamburro R, Lin S, Randolph A, Nino G, Mejias A, Ramilo O. Impact of Viral Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (LRTI) in Early Childhood (0-2 Years) on Lung Growth and Development and Lifelong Trajectories of Pulmonary Health: A National Institutes of Health (NIH) Workshop Summary. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2024 Nov 20; e27357. PMID: 39565217.
Published on 10/1/2024Hiller BE, Mizgerd JP. IFN-? and YAP lead epithelial cells astray after severe respiratory infection. J Clin Invest. 2024 Oct 01; 134(19). PMID: 39352386.
Published on 9/1/2024Auld SC, Sheshadri A, Alexander-Brett J, Aschner Y, Barczak AK, Basil MC, Cohen KA, Dela Cruz C, McGroder C, Restrepo MI, Ridge KM, Schnapp LM, Traber K, Wunderink RG, Zhang D, Ziady A, Attia EF, Carter J, Chalmers JD, Crothers K, Feldman C, Jones BE, Kaminski N, Keane J, Lewinsohn D, Metersky M, Mizgerd JP, Morris A, Ramirez J, Samarasinghe AE, Staitieh BS, Stek C, Sun J, Evans SE. Postinfectious Pulmonary Complications: Establishing Research Priorities to Advance the Field: An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2024 Sep; 21(9):1219-1237. PMID: 39051991.
Published on 7/5/2024Lee MM, Zuo Y, Steiling K, Mizgerd JP, Kalesan B, Walkey AJ. Clinical risk factors and blood protein biomarkers of 10-year pneumonia risk. PLoS One. 2024; 19(7):e0296139. PMID: 38968193.
Published on 6/4/2024Ysasi AB, Engler AE, Bawa PS, Wang F, Conrad RD, Yeung AK, Rock JR, Beane-Ebel J, Mazzilli SA, Franklin RA, Mizgerd JP, Murphy GJ. A specialized population of monocyte-derived tracheal macrophages promote airway epithelial regeneration through a CCR2-dependent mechanism. iScience. 2024 Jul 19; 27(7):110169. PMID: 38993668.
Published on 4/23/2024Etesami NS, Barker KA, Shenoy AT, De Ana CL, Arafa EI, Grifno GN, Matschulat AM, Vannini ME, Pihl RMF, Breen MP, Soucy AM, Goltry WN, Ha CT, Betsuyaku H, Browning JL, Varelas X, Traber KE, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Maglione PJ, Nia HT, Belkina AC, Mizgerd JP. B cells in the pneumococcus-infected lung are heterogeneous and require CD4+ T cell help including CD40L to become resident memory B cells. Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1382638. PMID: 38715601.
Published on 12/9/2023Lee MM, Zuo Y, Steiling K, Mizgerd JP, Kalesan B, Walkey AJ. Clinical risk factors and blood protein biomarkers of 10-year pneumonia risk. medRxiv. 2023 Dec 09. PMID: 38105941.
Published on 9/14/2023Lyon De Ana C, Shenoy AT, Barker KA, Arafa EI, Etesami NS, Korkmaz FT, Soucy AM, Breen MP, Martin IMC, Tilton BR, Devarajan P, Crossland NA, Pihl RMF, Goltry WN, Belkina AC, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Mizgerd JP. GL7 ligand expression defines a novel subset of CD4+ TRM cells in lungs recovered from pneumococcus. Mucosal Immunol. 2023 Oct; 16(5):699-710. PMID: 37604254.
Media Mentions
Published on 10/3/2023
Kilachand Fund Awards Go to Crystal Rib Cage and Brain Connection Projects
Published on 10/6/2021
Epithelial Cells Use MHC-II Molecule to Orchestrate Lung Immunity
Published on 10/6/2021
Scientists tease out role of epithelial cells in lung immunity
Published on 10/6/2021
How Does Lung Immunity Work? Study Identifies Each Cell That Build Respiratory Immune Response
Published on 9/23/2021
MED’s Biology of the Lung Funded through Its 50th—Yes, 50th—Year
Published on 7/1/2021
BU awarded T32 grant to mentor research trainees in lung biology and pulmonary sciences
Published on 2/4/2021
Coronavirus family now a prime suspect in previous pandemics
Published on 11/17/2020
Tonight’s University Lecture: On the Front Lines against COVID in the Lab, Science Will Win
Published on 11/11/2020
Common Cold Coronaviruses Tied to Less Severe COVID-19 Cases
Published on 10/22/2020
Do Colds Offer COVID-19 Protection?
View full list of 12 media mentions.