David Erle

Dr. David Erle is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. He received his A.B. in Biochemistry from Harvard College in 1980 and his M.D. from UCSF in 1984. After completing his training in internal medicine and pulmonary disease at UCSF, he joined the Lung Biology Center faculty in 1990. Dr. Erle is a member of the Bakar ImmunoX Program, the Cardiovascular Research Institute, and the Institute for Human Genetics at UCSF. He founded the UCSF Functional Genomics Core Facility and has been continuously funded by the NIH for over three decades.

Dr. Erle's educational background includes:

• Harvard College, Cambridge, MA: A.B. in Biochemistry (1980, Magna cum laude)
• University of California, San Francisco: M.D. (1984)
• University of California, San Francisco: Internal Medicine Residency (1987)
• University of California, San Francisco: Pulmonary Medicine Training (1990)
• University of California, San Francisco: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training (2018)

Dr. Erle's research focuses on the biology of the airway epithelium in asthma and other respiratory diseases. His work has demonstrated that the airway epithelium plays a central role in asthma pathogenesis, particularly through the effects of the type 2 cytokine IL-13 on resident airway cells. His laboratory showed that IL-13-driven activation of the transcription factor STAT6 in airway epithelial cells causes airway hyperreactivity and mucus overproduction in mice. More recently, his studies of primary human bronchial epithelial cells revealed that IL-13 induces changes in expression, organization, and function of airway mucus glycoproteins (MUC5AC and MUC5B mucins), leading to mucus tethering to the epithelium and formation of obstructive mucus plugs. His laboratory employs a variety of approaches from cell and molecular biology, genomics, and computational biology, including single cell RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and CRISPR, adapted for use with human bronchial epithelial cells.

Dr. Erle's recent research has expanded to include studies of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, particularly examining the relationship between asthma and susceptibility to viral infection. His work has shown that the type 2 asthma mediator IL-13 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection of bronchial epithelium, suggesting a potential protective role of type 2 inflammation against severe viral respiratory infections.

Dr. Erle has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including:

• Magna cum laude from Harvard College (1980)
• Alpha Omega Alpha from UCSF (1983)
• Trudeau Award from the American Lung Association (1990)
• Election to the Association of American Physicians (2018)
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Outstanding Investigator Award (2019)

Dr. Erle has been a principal investigator on numerous NIH-funded research projects spanning over three decades, with current funding extending through 2026. His laboratory has made significant contributions to our understanding of asthma pathogenesis and airway epithelial biology, with implications for the development of new therapeutic approaches for respiratory diseases.