Dr. Erica Herzog, a physician-scientist who has done field-leading research into treatments for chronic lung diseases, was recently appointed the John Slade Ely Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary) and professor of pathology, effective early April 2022.
She also directs Yale’s Interstitial Lung Disease Center of Excellence and serves as associate dean of medical student research at Yale School of Medicine.
Herzog, whose early work ignited an interest in the role of innate immunity in lung injury, repair, and remodeling, completed her B.A. and M.D. degrees at the University of North Carolina and earned her Ph.D. from Yale School of Medicine in 2005. She has spent close to two decades seeking treatments for chronic lung disease by studying intervenable mechanisms of fibrotic remodeling in the adult mammalian lung. Her laboratory has had a sustained impact on the field of pulmonary fibrosis and is credited with providing new insight into convergent and divergent mechanisms existing at the interface of lung injury and repair. Herzog collaborates with Yale immunologists, neuroscientists, and bioengineers to develop new ways to improve respiratory health and many of her discoveries are in various stages of clinical development.
A dedicated clinician, Herzog sees patients at the Winchester Center for Lung Disease and attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Yale New Haven Hospital. She is also committed to training the next generation of respiratory scientists and during her more than 20 years at Yale has mentored numerous individuals at all stages including students from local high schools, Yale College, Yale School of Medicine, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, as well as postgraduate medical trainees.
Her work has been published in journals such as Science, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Medicine, Cell, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Herzog has also been a continuous recipient of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2005 and has been honored by her peers with the Jo Rae Wright Award from the American Thoracic Society and induction into the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and Interurban Clinical Club (ICC). In 2022, she received the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Recognition Award for Scientific Accomplishments, an annual award that recognizes outstanding scientific research contributions in basic or clinical arenas to enhance the understanding, prevention, and treatment of respiratory disease, critical illness, or sleep disorders. The award also recognizes exemplary professionalism, collegiality, and citizenship through mentorship and scientific involvement in the ATS community.
