Stephen C. Lazarus, MD, is a Professor of Medicine, Director of the Fellowship Program in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Associate Director of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Center. He has nearly 40 years of experience in bench and clinical research on diseases of the lungs and airways. He has received funding continuously from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1979 as principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI of RO1, PPG, and U10 Network projects. Since 1994 he was a member of the Steering Committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Asthma Clinical Research Network and led two major studies conducted by that network. He was PI and Chair of the Steering Committee of the NHLBI's COPD Clinical Research Network, PI of the NHLBI's AsthmaNet, and a Co-Investigator of NHLBI's SPIROMICS network. He is Co-PI and Chair of a new project sponsored by the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, to examine Beta-blockers in COPD. Dr. Lazarus served on NIH study sections and task forces, has been an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, an Editor of the Murray and Nadel Textbook of Respiratory Medicine and has published more than 150 peer reviewed papers, reviews and chapters.
Since the beginning of his career, Dr. Lazarus' investigations focused on the role of inflammatory cells and mediators in regulating function of the lung and airways in obstructive lung diseases. He moved from whole animal- and organ-physiology to mast cell biology, and from there to clinical and translational studies of people with asthma and COPD. His most recent studies are focused on characterizing and understanding subtypes (phenotypes) of asthma and COPD and how best to treat them, a critical step toward personalized or precision medicine.
Dr. Lazarus also plays a major role in education and patient care at UCSF, where he has spent his entire career. He is Director of the Fellowship Program in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, attends on the Pulmonary Consult Service, the Pulmonary Function Laboratory, and the Chest Practice at UCSF, and has been Director of the Chest Practice, Director of Medical Specialty Practices, and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
