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Alejandro Comellas Freymond, MD

Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine-Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine

Introduction

Dr. Comellas obtained his Medical Degree from Central University of Venezuela. He moved the USA in 1998 where he completed his Internal Medicine Residency in 2001 at Northwestern University. He continued in the same institution for his Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship. In 2006 he became Assistant Professor at Northwestern University in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. In 2008, he moved to the University of Iowa as a faculty member in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine. He continued with his research on acute lung injury and expanded to environmental effects on airway innate immunity. He also became in the site PI for COPDGene and Spiromics. In 2017 he was named Director of the ICTS Clinical Research Unit at the University of Iowa.

Current Positions

  • Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine-Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine
  • Director, Clinical Research Support, ICTS

Education

  • MD, Central University of Venezuela, Luis Razetti School of Medicine, Caracas, Venezuela
  • Intern, Internal Medicine, Michael Reese Hospital, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois
  • Resident, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
  • Fellow, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois

Selected Publications

  • Comellas, A., Lecuona, E., Minin, A., Humberto, E., Trejo, Chen, J., Sun, H., Grillo, D., Oxana, E., Nekrasova, Lynn, C., Welch, Szleifer, I., Vladimir, I., Gelfand & Jacob, I. (null). Sznajder. Myosin-Va restrains the trafficking of Na+/K+-ATPase-containing vesicles in alveolar epithelial cells. J. Cell Sci. 122 (pt 21) 3915-22.
  • Burkes, R. M., Gassett, A. J., Ceppe, A. S., Anderson, W., O'Neal, W. K., Woodruff, P. G., Krishnan, J. A., Barr, R. G., Han, M. L., Martinez, F. J., Comellas, A. P., Lambert, A. A., Kaufman, J. D., Dransfield, M. T., Wells, J. M., Kanner, R. E., Paine, R., Bleecker, E. R., Paulin, L. M., Hansel, N. N., Drummond, M. B., Alexis, N. E., Anderson, W. H., Boucher, R. C., Bowler, R. P., Carretta, E. E., Christenson, S. A., Cooper, C. B., Couper, D. J., Criner, G. J., Crystal, R. G., Curtis, J. L., Doerschuk, C. M., Freeman, C. M., Hastie, A. T., Hoffman, E. A., Kleerup, E. C., LaVange, L. M., Lazarus, S. C., Meyers, D. A., Moore, W. C., Newell, J. D., Peters, S., Oelsner, E. C., Ortega, V. E., Putcha, N., Rennard, S. I., Tashkin, D. P., Scholand, M. B., Wise, R. A., Postow, L. & Croxton, T. (2018). Rural residence and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: Analysis of the SPIROMICS cohort. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 15 (7) 808-815. DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201710-837OC.
  • Yun, J. H., Lamb, A., Chase, R., Singh, D., Parker, M. M., Saferali, A., Vestbo, J., Tal-Singer, R., Castaldi, P. J., Silverman, E. K., Hersh, C. P., Crapo, J. D., Silverman, E. K., Make, B. J., Regan, E. A., Beaty, T., Begum, F., Busch, R., Castaldi, P. J., Cho, M., DeMeo, D. L., Boueiz, A. R., Foreman, M. G., Halper-Stromberg, E., Hansel, N. N., Hardin, M. E., Hayden, L. P., Hersh, C. P., Hetmanski, J., Hobbs, B. D., Hokanson, J. E., Laird, N., Lange, C., Lutz, S. M., McDonald, M. L., Parker, M. M., Qiao, D., Santorico, S., Wan, E. S., Won, S., Al Qaisi, M., Coxson, H. O., Gray, T., Han, M. L., Hoffman, E. A., Humphries, S., Jacobson, F. L., Judy, P. F., Kazerooni, E. A., Kluiber, A., Lynch, D. A., Newell, J. D., Ross, J. C., San Jose Estepar, R., Schroeder, J., Sieren, J., Stinson, D., Stoel, B. C., Tschirren, J., Van Beek, E., van Ginneken, B., van Rikxoort, E., Washko, G., Wilson, C. G., Jensen, R., Everett, D., Crooks, J., Moore, C., Strand, M., Hughes, J., Kinney, G., Pratte, K., Young, K. A., Curtis, J. L., Martinez, C. H., Pernicano, P. G., Hanania, N., Alapat, P., Atik, M., Bandi, V., Boriek, A., Guntupalli, K., Guy, E., Nachiappan, A., Parulekar, A., Hersh, C., Barr, R. G., Austin, J., D'Souza, B. & Pearson, G. D. (2018). Blood eosinophil count thresholds and exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 141 (6) 2037-2047.e10. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2018.04.010.
  • Witry, M., Comellas, A., Simmering, J. & Polgreen, P. (2018). The association between technology use and health status in a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cohort: Multi-method study. Journal of Medical Internet Research 20 (4). DOI: 10.2196/jmir.9382.
  • Vargas Buonfiglio, L. G., Borcherding, J. A., Frommelt, M., Parker, G. J., Duchman, B., Vanegas Calderón, O. G., Fernandez-Ruiz, R., Noriega, J. E., Stone, E. A., Gerke, A. K., Zabner, J. & Comellas, A. P. (2018). Airway surface liquid from smokers promotes bacterial growth and biofilm formation via iron-lactoferrin imbalance. Respiratory Research 19 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s12931-018-0743-x.
  • Fawzy, A., Putcha, N., Paulin, L. M., Aaron, C. P., Labaki, W. W., Han, M. L., Wise, R. A., Kanner, R. E., Bowler, R. P., Barr, R. G., Hansel, N. N., Alexis, N. E., Anderson, W. H., Barjaktarevic, I., Bleecker, E. R., Boucher, R. C., Carretta, E. E., Christenson, S. A., Comellas, A. P., Cooper, C. B., Couper, D. J., Criner, G. J., Crystal, R. G., Curtis, J. L., Doerschuk, C. M., Dransfield, M. T., Freeman, C. M., Hastie, A. T., Hoffman, E. A., Kaner, R. J., Kleerup, E. C., Krishnan, J. A., LaVange, L. M., Lazarus, S. C., Martinez, F. J., Meyers, D. A., Moore, W. C., Newell, J. D., Peters, S., Pirozzi, C., Oelsner, E. C., O'Neal, W. K., Ortega, V. E., Paine, R., Raman, S., Rennard, S. I., Tashkin, D. P., Wells, J. M. & Woodruff, P. G. (2018). Association of thrombocytosis with COPD morbidity: The SPIROMICS and COPDGene cohorts. Respiratory Research 19 (1). DOI: 10.1186/s12931-018-0717-z.
  • Putcha, N., Paul, G. G., Azar, A., Wise, R. A., O'Neal, W. K., Dransfield, M. T., Woodruff, P. G., Curtis, J. L., Comellas, A. P., Drummond, M. B., Lambert, A. A., Paulin, L. M., Fawzy, A., Kanner, R. E., Paine, R., Han, M. L., Martinez, F. J., Bowler, R. P., Barr, R. G. & Hansel, N. N. (2018). Lower serum IgA is associated with COPD exacerbation risk in SPIROMICS. PLoS ONE 13 (4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194924.
  • Boueiz, A., Chang, Y., Cho, M. H., Washko, G. R., San José Estépar, R., Bowler, R. P., Crapo, J. D., DeMeo, D. L., Dy, J. G., Silverman, E. K., Castaldi, P. J., Crapo, J., Silverman, E., Make, B., Regan, E., Beaty, T., Laird, N., Lange, C., Cho, M. H., Santorico, S., Hokanson, J., DeMeo, D., Hansel, N., Hersh, C., Castaldi, P., McDonald, M. L., Wan, E., Hardin, M., Hetmanski, J., Parker, M., Foreman, M., Hobbs, B., Busch, R., Boueiz, A., Castaldi, P., Hardin, M., Qiao, D., Regan, E., Halper-Stromberg, E., Begum, F., Won, S., Lutz, S., Lynch, D. A., Coxson, H. O., Han, M. L., Hoffman, E. A., Humphries, S., Jacobson, F. L., Judy, P. F., Kazerooni, E. A., Newell, J. D., Regan, E., Ross, J. C., Estépar, R. J., Stoel, B. C., Tschirren, J., Rikxoort, E. v., van Ginneken, B., Washko, G. R., Wilson, C. G., Qaisi, M. A., Gray, T., Kluiber, A., Mann, T., Sieren, J., Stinson, D., Schroeder, J., Beek, E. V., Jensen, R., Everett, D., Faino, A., Strand, M., Wilson, C., Hokanson, J. E., Kinney, G., Lutz, S., Young, K., Pratte, K., Duca, L., Curtis, J. L., Martinez, C. H., Pernicano, P. G., Hanania, N., Alapat, P., Bandi, V., Atik, M., Boriek, A., Guntupalli, K., Guy, E., Parulekar, A., Nachiappan, A., DeMeo, D., Hersh, C., Washko, G. R., Jacobson, F. & Graham Barr, R. (2018). Lobar Emphysema Distribution Is Associated With 5-Year Radiological Disease Progression. Chest 153 (1) 65-76. DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2017.09.022.
  • Hastie, A. T., Martinez, F. J., Curtis, J. L., Doerschuk, C. M., Hansel, N. N., Christenson, S., Putcha, N., Ortega, V. E., Li, X., Barr, R. G., Carretta, E. E., Couper, D. J., Cooper, C. B., Hoffman, E. A., Kanner, R. E., Kleerup, E., O'Neal, W. K., Paine, R., Peters, S. P., Alexis, N. E., Woodruff, P. G., Han, M. L., Meyers, D. A., Bleecker, E. R., Alexis, N. E., Anderson, W. H., Barr, R. G., Bleecker, E. R., Boucher, R. C., Bowler, R. P., Carretta, E. E., Christenson, S. A., Comellas, A. P., Cooper, C. B., Couper, D. J., Criner, G. J., Crystal, R. G., Curtis, J. L., Doerschuk, C. M., Dransfield, M. T., Freeman, C. M., Han, M. L., Hansel, N. N., Hastie, A. T., Hoffman, E. A., Kaner, R. J., Kanner, R. E., Kleerup, E. C., Krishnan, J. A., LaVange, L. M., Lazarus, S. C., Martinez, F. J., Meyers, D. A., Newell, J. D., Oelsner, E. C., O'Neal, W. K., Paine, R., Putcha, N., Rennard, S. I., Tashkin, D. P., Scholand, M. B., Wells, J. M., Wise, R. A. & Woodruff, P. G. (2017). Association of sputum and blood eosinophil concentrations with clinical measures of COPD severity: an analysis of the SPIROMICS cohort. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine 5 (12) 956-967. DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(17)30432-0.
  • Bradford, E., Jacobson, S., Varasteh, J., Comellas, A. P., Woodruff, P., O'Neal, W., DeMeo, D. L., Li, X., Kim, V., Cho, M., Castaldi, P. J., Hersh, C., Silverman, E. K., Crapo, J. D., Kechris, K. & Bowler, R. P. (2017). The value of blood cytokines and chemokines in assessing COPD. Respiratory research 18 (1) 180. DOI: 10.1186/s12931-017-0662-2.