Derek Pociask, PhD

Dr. Derek Pociask received Ph.D. from Louisiana State University Health Science Center, where he studied lipid changes and oxidative damage in atherosclerosis. He went on to do his post-doctoral work under the mentorship of Dr. Arnold Brody at Tulane University. During this training he studied the effects of asbestos on epithelial injury and the contribution of specific growth factors and cytokines to asbestos induced fibrosis. It was during this time that he realized his interest and passion for studying the interactions of the immune system with pulmonary epithelium. After Hurricane Katrina Dr. Pociask became a member of the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, where he trained with Dr. Jay Kolls, studying the effects of Th17 immunity in the lung. There he became interested in the roles of IL-17 and IL-22 in lung injury and repair. Dr. Pociask became a member of the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine in 2015.

Dr. Pociask’s laboratory is focused on the interactions of the innate immune system with the pulmonary epithelium during chemical (bleomycin, asbestos, naphthalene) or infectious (k. pneumonia, influenza) injury as well as its role in epithelial repair. The lab is funded by the NHLBI to study IL-22 and how it is regulated during influenza infection to promote repair in the lung epithelium. The focus is to develop novel therapies centered around IL-22 that will help hospitalized patients with severe flu infection.