Alejandro Comellas, MD

Alejandro ComellasAssociate Director for Clinical Research Support

Clinical Associate Professor, Internal Medicine - Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine

Education

  • MD - Central University of Venezuela, Luis Razetti School of Medicine, 1996
  • Internship, Internal Medicine - Michael Reese Hospital, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1999
  • Residency, Internal Medicine - Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, 2001
  • Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine - Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University - 2005

Certification

  • Internal Medicine
  • Pulmonary Medicine
  • Critical Care Medicine

Positions

Academic

  • Instructor in Medicine, Institution Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (2005 - 2006)
  • Physician, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL (2005 - 2006)
  • Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (2006 - 2008)
  • Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (2008 - present)
  • Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (2016 - present)
  • Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (2017 - present)

Administrative

  • Associate Director, Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (2007 - 2008)
  • Associate Program Director, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (2007 - 2008)
  • Principal Investigator, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (2005 - 2008)
  • Principal Investigator, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (2008 - present)
  • Associate Member, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa (2010 - 2012)
  • Associate Director (Clinical), Integrative Health Sciences Facility, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa (2011 - 2012)
  • Member, Internal Advisory Committee, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa (2012 - present)
  • Director (Clinical), Integrative Health Sciences Facility, Environmental Health Sciences Research Center, University of Iowa (2012 - present)
  • IRB Member, University of Iowa (2012 - 2015)
  • VA ICU Director, Iowa City VA (2015 - 2017)
  • Director, ICTS Clinical Research Unit and Study Coordinator Core, University of Iowa (2017 - present)

Professional Memberships

  • Editorial Board, ISRN Pulmonary
  • Editorial Board, ISRB BioMed Research International
  • Member, American Thoracic Society
  • Member, American College of Chest Physicians

Honors

  • Jose Izquierdo prize, Venezuelan Atheneum of Morphology (1992)
  • First Prize for Best Poster, “Sensitivity and Specificity of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy by the Sokolow-Lyon Electrocardiographic criteria” XXVII Venezuelan Congress of Cardiology 1994 (1994)
  • Honor diplomas in Psychiatry I. Anatomy II. Surgery II. Obstetrics and Gynecology III. Pediatrics IV. Medicine IV. (1996)
  • “Cecil Lehman Mayer” Research award for outstanding research, 64th Annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (1998)
  • ACCP Young Investigator award for outstanding research, 64th Annual meeting of the American college of Chest Physicians (1998)
  • First Prize at the Annual Research Fair of Michael Reese Hospital, 3rd Annual Research Fair of Michael Reese Hospital (1999)
  • Webster Award, Recognition for best overall performance as a senior medical resident. Bestowed by the Chief Medical Residents of 2001.  Department of Medicine, McGaw Medical Center Northwestern University Medical School. (2001)
  • Chicago Department of Public Health, Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding patient care to the citizens of Chicago, Illinois.  Englewood TB Clinic (2003)
  • ATS Minority Trainee Travel Awards (MTTA) (2003)
  • The Lewis J. Smith, M.D.  Award, Outstanding achievement by a fellow in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.  The Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University (2003)
  • K award grant, 2007 combined Annual Meeting.  Central Society for Clinical Research & Midwestern Section American Federation for Medical Research, Chicago, Illinois. (2007)
  • Outstanding Teacher, Feinberg School of Medicine. Northwestern University (2008)
  • Early Career Development Award, Central Society for Clinical Research (2010)
  • Faculty Teacher of the Year, Department of Internal Medicine (2017)

Publications 

Areas of Research Interest

  • Lung injury and repair mechanisms
  • Airway innate immunity and air pollution
  • COPD phenotypes and COPD exacerbations

Research Support

“Ubiquitin mediated Na, K-ATPase degradation”

2003 - 2006

Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows

NIH F32

“Hypoxia Disrupts the Alveolar Barrier: Roles of Claudins”

2006 - 2011

Mentored Career Development Award to Promote Faculty Diversity in Biomedical Research

KO1HL08966-01A1

Genetic Epidemiology of COPD

2007 - 2012

NIH/National Jewish M&R Ct.

Genetic Epidemiology of COPD

2012 - 2017

NIH/National Jewish M&R Ct.

Phase II NIH/NHLBI - 5 R01 HL 089897/HL089856

Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

2012 - 2017

NIH/NIEHS - 5 P30 ES 005605-23

Spiromics

2013 - 2017

NIH/NHLBI - 268200900017C

Novel Computational Framework for Free-breathing & Ungated Dynamic MRI

2016 - 2020

Targeting Extracellular Histones with Novel RNA Biodrugs for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury

2016 - 2019

Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

2017 - 2022

NIH/NIEHS - P30PRO

Correlation of Pulmonary Structural & Functional Alterations is a Populations Exposed to Indoor Cooking with Solid Biofuels: A Pilot Study

2015 - 2017

NIH - P30PRO

Contact Information

Alejandro Comellas, MD