Derek E. Byers, MD, PhD

Derek E. Byers, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine

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Appointments

  • Professor of Medicine
  • Associate Program Director for Research, Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship

Research Interests

My research interests are  focused in translational studies of chronic lung diseases and lung transplantation. I am involved in several collaborative efforts to identify the mechanisms that lead to type 2 immune activation and to find new ways to block mucus production and to treat respiratory virus infections in the context of chronic lung diseases. For the past ten years I have helped to build a biobank/registry of human lung tissues, airway epithelial cell preparations, and human bronchoscopy specimens from patients with advanced lung diseases. This registry now includes samples from over 500 patients with CF, COPD, IPF, asthma, ILD, lung transplants, and non-diseased donors. Nearly every PI within and several outside our Division use this resource to identify and validate the mechanisms that cause  lung diseases and to develop new diagnostics and treatments for these conditions. Congruent with this registry, I direct the Pulmonary Morphology Core at Washington University, which processes thousands of tissue specimens per year and serves the processing needs for over 30 labs annually at Washington University. These translational research and administrative roles are complemented by my role as a Chair with Washington University IRB and as an Associate Fellowship Program Director for Research to help trainees in pulmonary medicine navigate the transition from clinical into research training and build academic research careers of their own.

Education and Training

  • 1999 PhD, University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas
  • 2001 MD, University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas
  • 2001-2004 Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas
  • 2005-2008 Fellowship, Pulmonary and Critical Care, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • 2008-2010 Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • 2010-2016 Assistant Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • 2016-2022 Associate Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • 2022-Present Professor of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
  • Director, Pulmonary Morphology Core, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (Present)
  • Chair, Washington University Institutional Review Board, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (Present)

Honors and Awards

  • 1989 Sir Alexander Fleming Scholarship for Research Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK
  • 1991 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for Science and Engineering
  • 1992 Phi Beta Kappa
  • 1993-2001 Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) Fellowship
  • 2003 Outstanding PGY-2 Resident for 3rd year medical students, UTSW
  • 2003, 2004 Outstanding Teacher of 2nd year medical students, UTSW
  • 2007-2013 NIH Loan Repayment Award
  • 2010 ATS/COPD Foundation Career Development Award
  • 2013 ICTS/BJH Foundation Award
  • 2013 Outstanding Attending Physician of the Year, Div. Pulm/CC, WUSM

Publications

View Derek Byers’s research publications on PubMed