Dr. Wenzel’s laboratory has focused on understanding both the subtypes of human asthma and the combination of environmental and genetic factors which drive them. Research has been intensive on the role of airway epithelial cells in human disease, given the position of these cells to link the environment with the host. Work encompasses use of large epidemiologic/research databases, including those both local and national, to define patient characteristics and relationships to environmental triggers, but also to include studies of specific human immunology, both in human samples and model systems. Current pathways of interest include those related to environmental and innate lung oxidative stress, as well as their intersections with inflammation, mucins and cell death pathways.
Dr. Wenzel has had a passion for understanding and improving the treatment of asthma, in particular severe asthma. She served as Chair of the original ATS workshop and the following ERS-ATS guidelines on severe asthma which developed the definition and approaches to treatment of severe asthma. Dr. Wenzel has been listed as one of Castle Connelly’s top doctors in America for over 15 years. She has worked to promote severe asthma as a disease whose pathogenesis goes beyond issues of non-compliance/adherence. Her studies of asthma phenotypes have led the field in understanding the complexities of asthma and she is internationally recognized for her efforts in this area. To this end, she and her colleagues recently described a new asthmatic disease, called “Asthmatic Granulomatosis”. This severe asthma-like disease responds to alternative medications, beyond steroids.
- BS, University of Florida, 1978
- MD, University of Florida, 1981
- Residency, Internal Medicine, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, 1984
- Fellowship, Pulmonary Medicine, Medical College of Virginia, 1986
Education & Training
Ray A, Camiolo M, Fitzpatrick A, Gauthier M, Wenzel SE. Are We Meeting the Promise of Endotypes and Precision Medicine in Asthma?. Physiol Rev. 2020; Jul 1;100(3): 983-1017.
Camiolo MJ, Gauthier M, Kaminski N, Ray A, Wenzel SE. Expression of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 and Coincident Host Response Signature Varies by Asthma Inflammatory Phenotype. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2020; Jun 9:S0091-6749(20): 30828-9.
Zhao J, Dar HH, Deng Y, St Croix CM, Li Z, Minami Y, Shrivastava IH, Tyurina YY, Etling E, Rosenbaum JC, Nagasaki T, Trudeau JB, Watkins SC, Bahar I, Bayir H, VanDemark AP, Kagan VE, Wenzel SE. PEBP1 acts as a rheostat between prosurvival autophagy and ferroptotic death in asthmatic epithelial cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020; Jun 8:201921618: doi:10.1073/pnas.1921618117.Epubaheadofprint.
Wenzel, S, Castro, M, Corren, J, Maspero, J, Wang, L, Zhang, B, Pirozzi, G, Sutherland, ER, Evans, RR, Joish,VN, Eckert, L, Graham, NM, Stahl, N, Yancopoulos, GD, Louis-Tisserand, M, Teper, A. Dupilumab efficacy and safety in adults with uncontrolled persistent asthma despite use of medium-to-high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus a long-acting ß2 agonist: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled pivotal phase 2b dose-ranging trial. Lancet. 2016; Jul2;388(10039): 31-44.
Raundhal, M, Morse, C, Khare, A, Oriss, TB, Milosevic, J, Trudeau, J, Huff, R, Pilewski, J, Holguin, F, Kolls, J, Wenzel, S, Ray, P, Ray, A. High IFN-y and low SLPI mark severe asthma in mice and humans. J Clin Invest. 2015; Aug 3;125(8): 3037-50.
Albano, GD, Zhao, J, Etling, EB, Park, SY, Hu, H, Trudeau, JB, Profita, M, Wenzel, SE. IL-13 desensitizes ß2-adrenergic receptors in human airway epithelial cells through a 15-lipoxygenase/G protein receptor kinase 2 mechanism. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015; May;135(5): 1144-53.
Modena, BD, Tedrow, JR, Milosevic, J, Bleeker, ER, Meyers, DA, Wu, W, Bar-Joseph, Z, Erzurum, SC, Gason, BM, Busse, WW, Jarjour, NN, Kaminski, N, Wenzel, SE. Gene expression in relation to exhaled nitric oxide identifies novel asthma phenotypes with unique biomolecular pathways. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014; Dec 15;190(12): 1363-72.
Wu, W, Bleecker, E, Moore, W, Busse, WW, Castro, M, Chung, KF, Calhoun, WJ, Erzurum, S, Gaston, B, Israel, E, Curran-Everett, D, Wenzel, SE. Unsupervised phenotyping of Severe Asthma Research Program participants using expanded lung data. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2014; May;133(5): 1280-8.
Wenzel, SE, Wang, L, Pirozzi, G. Dupilumab in persistent asthma. N Engl J Med. 2013; Sep 26;369(13): 1276.
Fajt, ML, Gelhaus, SL, Freeman, B, Uvalle, C, Trudeau, JB, Holguin, F, Wenzel, SE. Prostaglandin D2 pathway upregulation: Relation to asthma severity, control and Th2 inflammation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013; Jun;131(6): 1504-1512.
- Elizabeth Rich Award (ATS), 2005
- ATS Scientific Achievement Award, 2010
- Member, American Association of Physicians, 2014
- ATS Foundation Breathing for LIfe Award, 2016
- ERS Presidential Award, 2017
- Ladies Hospital Aid Society Trailblazer Award, 2018
