Stephen Lazarus

Stephen Lazarus is a Professor in the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He completed his A.B. in Zoology at UC Berkeley, earned his M.D. from UC Irvine, and trained in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary & Critical Care at UCSF. Dr. Lazarus served as Chief of Pulmonary Medicine and Co-Director of the ICU at Andrews Air Force Base during the Vietnam War before returning to UCSF for research training. Since 1983, he has led studies on asthma and COPD mechanisms and therapies, including roles as Director of the Training Program in Pulmonary and Critical Care and Associate Director of the Adult Pulmonary Laboratory.

• A.B. in Zoology, UC Berkeley (1968)
• M.D., UC Irvine (1972)
• Internal Medicine Residency, UCSF (1975)
• Pulmonary & Critical Care Fellowship, UCSF (1977)

His research focuses on inflammatory mediators in airway diseases, leveraging mast cell models to investigate leukotrienes, tachykinins, and proteases in asthma and COPD. Key projects include multicenter trials in the Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN) and COPD Clinical Research Network (CCRN), leading to guideline changes for inhaled corticosteroid use. He co-led the TH2 phenotyping study in AsthmaNet and contributed to the SPIROMICS network for COPD subpopulation analysis.

Dr. Lazarus has secured substantial NIH/NHLBI funding for clinical trials, including studies on β-blockers for COPD exacerbations, losartan's effects on emphysema, and carbohydrate-based therapies. He has served on steering committees for ACRN, CCRN, and SPIROMICS, advancing biomarker discovery and personalized treatment strategies.