Gokhan Mutlu

Dr. Mutlu is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Chicago. He has made significant contributions to pulmonary and critical care and environmental health sciences research. His seminal contribution is the discovery of the mechanistic link between particulate matter air pollution and acute thrombotic events via the development of a prothrombotic state and activation of sympathetic nervous system. This paradigm shifting discovery not only provided new research avenues for environmental health research community but also has given hope to over 4 million people who die annually from air pollution, the greatest environmental health risk in the world. For his work, Dr. Mutlu received the prestigious Outstanding New Environmental Scientist (ONES) Award from NIEHS in 2006. Since then, he has expanded this work into understanding the role of lung macrophage metabolism and epigenetics through additional funding from NIEHS.

In addition to his contributions to environmental health research, Dr. Mutlu has made significant contributions to our understanding about the mechanisms of acute lung injury/ARDS, and pulmonary fibrosis. Some of his discoveries include the role of β2-adrenergic receptors and leptin signaling in acute lung injury and fibrosis. Increasingly, his research has focused on understanding how cellular metabolism in lung cells (macrophages, and fibroblasts) is altered during acute lung injury and fibrosis. His research team has recently discovered the importance of metabolism of several amino acids including glycine, proline and glutamine in pulmonary fibrosis. These recent studies provide promising therapeutic targets for a lethal disease that lack effective therapies.

Dr. Mutlu’s research has been continuously funded by NIH since 2006. In addition, he has received funding from the Department of Defense, American Heart Association and American Lung Association. He is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians. He has published more than 200 papers in preeminent journals such as JCI, PNAS, Cell Metabolism, Circulation Research and AJRCCM. He has served as an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, and the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, the premier journals in pulmonary. Dr. Mutlu has served as a standing member of NIH Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) Review Committee and has recently been appointed as a member of National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council by the HHS secretary.