Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine Research to Lead NIH Study Section

UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine researcher John F. Alcorn, PhD, has been selected to serve as the chair of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Immunity and Host Defense Study Section. Dr. Alcorn’s two-year term as chair began on July 1, 2021.

In his role as the NIH Immunity and Host Defense Study Section chair, Dr. Alcorn will lead reviews of grant applications pertaining to innate and adaptive immune responses to many pathogens, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.  

In addition to his appointment as professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Dr. Alcorn holds a secondary faculty appointment in the Department of Immunology, and he also serves as an associate director of the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute for Pediatric Research at UPMC Children’s.

Dr. Alcorn’s research laboratory is focused on pulmonary immunity, host defense, epithelial cell biology, and lung physiology as it relates to pediatric disease. A primary laboratory focus is on influenza infection and host defense mechanisms in the lung.

Learn more about Dr. Alcorn.