Associate 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
- Email: alejandro-comellas@uiowa.edu
- Phone: (319) 384-6484
- Office: W 219-A GH