Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine

American Thoracic Society

My laboratory studies intracellular signaling regulating contraction, relaxation and proliferation of airway smooth muscle with particular emphasis on G protein coupled receptor mediated signaling. Current projects include understanding age-dependent changes in airway smooth muscle function (funded by NIA/NIH) and bitter taste receptor signaling in airway smooth muscle (funded by American Asthma Foundation). Airway smooth muscle is the principle contractile component of airways, and contraction and relaxation of ASM regulate airway diameter. Any alteration in ASM function results in bronchoconstriction and difficulty in breathing. Therefore, ASM acts as a primary therapeutic target in obstructive airway diseases such as asthma and COPD. Delineating novel receptors and signaling mechanisms that regulate ASM function would provide basis for developing newer and better drugs to treat asthma.