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Alix Ashare, MD, PhD

Contact Information:

Professional Interests:

My research focuses on the role of lung macrophages in the development of inflammatory lung diseases. Currently my laboratory is investigating the potential mechanisms of increased lung inflammation in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and asthma, with an emphasis on the investigation of impaired alveolar macrophage function in the patient populations.

A major focus of my laboratory is the investigation of how hypoxia impacts macrophage phenotype and function and how these changes in the immune cell may contribute to chronic inflammation in CF and asthma. We are also interested in how regional differences in immune cell function impact the regional heterogeneity of lung disease in CF. We are currently funded by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to investigate regional differences in the microbiome and host immune response in the CF lung.

Another area of focus involves studying the role of Angiotensin II in the development of lung inflammation in CF and asthma. There is a known polymorphism in the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene that is associated with more severe lung inflammation. We are currently funded to investigate the mechanisms by which this polymorphism impacts disease

Rotations and Thesis Projects:

Project 1: We have ongoing projects in the lab looking at the effects of cigarette smoke on macrophage function. This project involves looking at the effects of cigarette smoke on intracellular killing of bacteria by macrophages, and as a corollary any treatments that could modify it related to the oxidative burst.

Project 2: This project involves looking at the effect of cigarette smoke on actin polymerization in macrophages. This would involve live-cell imaging in lentivirally transfected THP-1 cells to start and then, once the methodology is worked out, extending the studies to primary alveolar macrophages.

Grant Information:

Microbiological Profiles in Sputum and in Regions of Airway Damage (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation)

Mechanisms of Increased Asthma Severity Secondary to Polymorphisms in the ACE Gene (American Asthma Foundation)

Regional Differences in the Inflammatory Response of Alveolar Macrophages (Dartmouth SYNERGY)

Courses Taught:

CF: From Bedside and Bench, and Back Again
Scientific Basis of Medicine: Respiratory Section

Biography:

Dr. Ashare received her B.S. from Vanderbilt University in 1994, her M.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1999, and her Ph.D. in Translational Biomedicine from the University of Iowa in 2008. Following Medical School, she completed an Internal Medicine Residency and Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2002 and 2005, respectively. In 2005, she joined the faculty at the University of Iowa. She moved her clinical and research program to Dartmouth in 2009.