Researchers in NYU Langone’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine have an active interest in the lung microbiome and the host immune response.

Leopoldo N. Segal, MD, is director of NYU Langone’s Lung Microbiome Program and a founding member of the NYU Langone Human Microbiome Project. His team’s aim is to understand how microbes interact with the host immune response, which may lead to inflammatory destruction of lung parenchyma, airway remodeling, and impaired immune surveillance. Researchers evaluate the relationships among the lung microbiome, metagenome, metabolome, and host immune responses.

Although the lungs have long been thought to be sterile, recently developed culture-independent techniques show that the lower airways of healthy individuals is commonly exposed to microbes. This microbial environment consists of a diverse mixture of bacteria, viruses, and fungi, collectively called the microbiome. After sampling the lower airway by bronchoscopy, Dr. Segal uses next-generation sequencing to define complex microbial communities of commensal lung bacteria.

Dr. Segal’s discoveries reveal how dysbiotic signatures of the lung microbiome characterized by enrichment with microbes commonly found in the upper airways are associated with increased lung inflammation.

The goal of the Segal Lab is to identify microbial–host interactions that affect the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive lung diseases, bronchiectasis, lung transplant, and cancer.

Registry, Funding, and Contact Information

Current clinical trials in this area of research include the following:

• Evaluation Of The Lung Microbiome In NTM Bronchiectasis (NCT02779478)
• Lung Microbiome and Inflammation in Early COPD (NCT02777879)
• Longitudinal Evaluation of Microbial and Host Signatures During Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer (NCT04063501)

Our funding sources include National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Lung, Heart and Blood Institute; National Cancer Institute, Foundation of the National Institute of Health, and NYU Langone’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine.

For more information about our clinical trials, please contact Rosemary Schulger at rosemary.schulger@nyulangone.org.

Recent Publications

Sulaiman I … Segal LN. Functional Lower Airways Genomic Profiling of the Microbiome to Capture Active Microbial Metabolism. Eur Respir J. 2021. DOI.

Tsay JCJ … Segal LN. Lower Airway Dysbiosis Affects Lung Cancer Progression. Cancer Discov. 2021. DOI.

Wu BJ … Segal LN. Episodic Aspiration with Oral Commensals Induces a MyD88-dependent, Pulmonary Th17 Response that Mitigates Susceptibility to Streptococcus pneumoniae. 2020. DOI.

Wu BG … Segal LN. Severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with alterations in the nasal microbiome and an increase in inflammation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019. DOI.

Kazachkov M … Segal LN. Aerodigestive dysbiosis in children with chronic cough. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2018. DOI.

Wu BG … Segal LN. Severe obstructive sleep apnea is associated with alterations in the nasal microbiome and increase in inflammation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2018. DOI.

Segal LN … Weiden MD. Anaerobic bacterial fermentation products increase tuberculosis risk in antiretroviral-drug-treated HIV patients. Cell Host Microbe. 2017. DOI.

Segal LN … Weiden MD. Enrichment of the lung microbiome with oral taxa is associated with lung inflammation of a Th17 phenotype. Nat Microbiol. 2016. DOI.