Dr. Yassine Amrani

Biography:

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Dr Yassine Amrani, a trained respiratory pharmacologist who developed interest in the immunology of respiratory diseases, received his degrees (summa com laude) from the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg (France). By focusing on specific cytokines such as TNF and their action in the lungs, Dr Amrani‘s ultimate research goal is to develop more effective therapies in the treatment of lung diseases including severe asthma and COPD. Dr Amrani started his academic career at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine in Philadelphia, one of the top Ivy League Universities in the USA where he received his first appointment in 2002. In 2007, he moved to the University Of Leicester School Of Medicine in the UK where he currently holds a tenured Readership (Associate Professor) in Respiratory Immunology. Dr Amrani’s studies were the first in the field to have suggested the new concept that inflammation via the action of pro-asthmatic cytokines (TNF, IL-13) contribute to the impaired lung function reported in severe cases of asthma by directly altering the function of airway smooth muscle. This is an important observation as later clinical trials that have shown that anti-TNF therapies lead to improved airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR), asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) among others. In more recent years, Dr Amrani’s interest shifted at finding novel therapeutic alternatives to treat asthmatic patients who are refractory to current therapies including corticosteroids and Beta-agonists. His group has developed a cellular model that can is currently being used to (i) dissect the molecular pathways leading to decreased responses to corticosteroid and beta2-agonists and, (ii) screen various molecules for their capacity to overcome the reduced sensitivity to these anti-asthma drugs. Dr Yassine Amrani received different research and programme grants from National Institute of Health (USA), American Lung Association and the esteemed Parker B. Francis foundation. He is currently funded by the NIH, MRC and Welcome Trust on grants where he acts as PI or co-PI. He has published over 67 peer-reviewed articles/reviews in top medical journals, wrote 7 book chapters in pulmonary medicine. His H-index is 29. He has delivered over 35 lectures in different Universities and chaired a number of scientific sessions at international conferences including the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). Dr Amrani has had the privilege to train more than 10 post-doctoral fellows (PhD scientists and PhD-MD pulmonary fellows) who are currently holding faculty positions at different prestigious universities in the United States. He served as reviewer for funding bodies including NIH/FAMRI (USA), Canadian Lung Association, and Wellcome Trust, MRC, BLF, and Asthma UK (UK) and at least 21 prestigious medical journals. He is a member of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the American Association of Immunologists and American Physiological Society.

Academic positions:

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2000-02 Research Associate, University of Pennsylvania/Pulmonary, Philadelphia, PA 2003- Assistant Professor of Medicine (Research), Univ. of Pennsylvania/Pulmonary, Philadelphia, PA 2007- Reader (Associate Professor) in Respiratory Immunology, University of Leicester, UK

Research interests:

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Asthma pathogenesis Cytokine signalling Airway inflammation steroid resistance bronchial hyper-responsiveness

What I think of the idea behind WebmedCentral:

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Very good initiative