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Alison Morris, MD, MS

  • Division Chief, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, UPMC Chair of Translational Pulmonary and Critical Care Research
  • Vice Chair of Clinical Research for the Department of Medicine
  • Professor of Medicine, Immunology and Clinical and Translational Research

    Education & Training

  • Medical School – Duke University – MD
  • Residency – University of California, San Francisco – Internal Medicine
  • Fellowship – University of California, San Francisco – Pulmonary, Critical Care
  • Fellowship – University of Pittsburgh – Critical Care
  • Graduate School – University of Pittsburgh – MS – Clinical Research
Research Grants

NIH Grants:  R01, R03, K23, U01, P01, K12

Research Summary

Her group works with large cohort epidemiologic studies of HIV and other diseases as well as in translational studies in which physiologic and molecular techniques are applied to patient populations. Her research interests focus on several overlapping areas including the role of the microbiome in HIV-associated lung disease, understanding and manipulating the respiratory and gut microbiota in the ICU, HIV-associated emphysema and pulmonary hypertension, and the role of Pneumocystis and other fungi in COPD and HIV. Her commitment and dedication to mentoring are supported by an ongoing K24 award in HIV-associated lung disease and the microbiome. She has mentored numerous clinical and research fellows, as well as masters, college, and high school students in clinical and translational research related to HIV-associated lung diseases, COPD, and the microbiome resulting in over 60 publications with trainees. Her post-doctoral trainees have received numerous grants including 2 NRSAs, three K23s, and a Parker B. Francis award, and 9 of 11 remain in academics. She is a member of the NHLBI Mentored Patient-Oriented Research (K23) study section.

Representative Publications
  1. Segal LN, Clemente JC, Tsay JJ, Koralov SB, Keller BV, Wu BG, Yonghua L, Shen N, Ghedin E, Morris A, Diaz P, Huang L, Wikoff WR, Ubeda C, Artacho A, Rom WN, Sterman DH, Collman RG, Blaser MJ, Weiden MD. Enrichment of the lung microbiome with oral taxa is associated with lung inflammation of a TH17 phenotype. Nature Microbiology. 2016; 1: 16031.
  2. Fitzpatrick, ME, Nouraie, M, Gingo, MR, Camp, D, Kessinger, CJ, Sincebaugh, JB, Clarke, A, Ries, JW, Kleerup, EC, Kingsley, L, Morris, A. Novel relationships of markers of monocyte activation and endothelial dysfunction with pulmonary dysfunction in HIV-infected persons. AIDS. 2016; 30(9): 1327-39.
  3. Cribbs, SK, Uppal, K, Li, S, Jones, DP, Huang, L, Tipton, L, Fitch, A, Greenblatt, RM, Kinglsey, L, Guidot, DM, Ghedin, E, Morris, A. Correlation of the lung microbiome with metabolic profiles in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in HIV infection. Microbiome. 2016; 4: 3.
  4. Cui, L., Lucht, L., Tipton, L., Rogers, M.B., Fitch, A., Kessinger, C., Camp, D., Kingsley, L,, Leo, N., Greenblatt, R.M., Fong, S., Stone, S., Dermand, J., Kleerup, E., Huang, L.,Morris, A.*, Ghedin, E.*. Topographical diversity of the respiratory tract mycobiome and alteration in HIV and lung disease. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2015; 191: 932-42.
  5. Moller, DR, Koth, LL, Maier, LA, Morris, A, Drake, W, Rossman, M, Leader, JK, Collman, RG, Hamzeh, N, Sweiss, NJ, Zhang, Y, O'Neal, S, Senior, RM, Becich, M, Hochheiser, HS, Kaminski, N, Wisniewski, SR, Gibson, KF. GRADS Sarcoidosis Study Group. Rationale and design of the Genomic Research in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin and Sarcoidosis Study: Sarcoidosis Protocol. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2015; 12(10): 1561-71.
  6. Fitzpatrick, ME, Gingo, MR, Kessinger, CJ, Lucht, L, Kleerup, E, Greenblatt, RM, Claman, D, Ponath, C, Fong, S, Huang, L, Morris, A. HIV infection is associated with diffusing capacity impairment in women. Journal of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. 2013; 64(3): 284-8.
  7. Morris, A, Beck, JM, Schloss, PD, Campbell, TB, Crothers, K, Curtis, JL, Flores, SC, Fontenot, AP, Ghedin, E, Huang, L, Jablonski, K, Kleerup, E, Lynch, SV, Sodergren, E, Twigg, H, Young, VB, Bassis, CM, Venkataraman, A, Schmidt, TM, Weinstock, GM. Comparison of the respiratory microbiome in healthy non-smokers and smokers. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2013; 187(10): 1067-75.
  8. Gingo, MR, George, MP, Kessinger, CJ, Lucht, L, Rissler, B, Weinman, R, Slivka, WA, McMahon, DK, Wenzel, SE, Sciurba, FC, Morris, A. Pulmonary function abnormalities in HIV-infected patients during the current antiretroviral therapy era. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2010; 182(6): 790-6.
  9. Morris, A, Kinglsey, LA, Groner, G, Lebedeva, IP, Beard, CB, Norris, KA. Prevalence and clinical predictors of Pneumocystis colonization among HIV-infected men. AIDS. 2004; 18(5): 793-8.