Maneesh Bhargava, MBBS, PhD

• Member, American Thoracic Society
• Fellow, American College of Chest Physicians
• Member, World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Lung Diseases

Our research focus is to improve outcomes in acute and chronic lung diseases. We are using a combination of tools to understand the basic mechanisms by which the lung repairs itself. A goal of these studies is to predict outcomes in lung diseases and develop therapeutic interventions to modify mortality.

Since its initial description in 1967, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) has remained a frequent cause of respiratory failure requiring supportive care in the intensive care unit. Our laboratory is using state-of-the-art tools to perform the large-scale study of proteins in cases with ARDS, to identify the biological processes and pathways that are selectively activated in cases that survive. We expect that these studies will result in novel therapy in ARDS by identifying the biological process that participate in lung repair. We are also pursuing studies in Idiopathic Pneumonia Syndrome, a non-infectious form of lung injury that occurs in blood and marrow transplant recipients.

We are also collecting biological specimens from patients with Sarcoidosis. Our goal is to characterize comprehensively the protein profile in these patients and begin to understand why Sarcoidosis has such varied clinical presentation, response to treatment and unpredictable course. These studies are designed to develop biomarkers that will inform us about diagnosis and prognosis in Sarcoidosis.

In collaboration with investigators at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, we have applied the novel SWIFT-MRI algorithm in imaging of lung tissue. These studies performed in an experimental model of ARDS show promising findings that we expect to translate in human subjects with acute and chronic lung disease.

• Experts@Minnesota
• PubMed