Associate Professor Neil Aggarwal

I am a NIH- and DoD-funded physician scientist dedicated to improving human outcomes in critical illnesses: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumonia and sepsis, through clinical trials and cohort studies with a specific interest in biological heterogeneity and pragmatic delivery of trial interventions. I developed a strong research background in ARDS pathobiology with an overarching focus on ARDS heterogeneity and its modifiable factors while a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Johns Hopkins. My early work as a bench scientist investigated how lung macrophage inflammatory states impact acute lung injury (ALI) and resolution in models of sepsis-induced and pneumonia-induced ALI that integrated clinically relevant variables. I served as Branch Chief at the NHLBI from 2016-2021, where my career interests pivoted towards clinical research spurned on by the COVID-19 pandemic. I led an ARDS Precision Medicine workshop comprised of international ARDS and precision medicine experts that helped lay the foundation for the PANTHER trial. Currently, as an intensivist and Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, I am MPI for the NHLBI/NIGMS-funded U01: ARDS, Pneumonia, and Sepsis (APS) Phenotyping Consortium, and lead PI for US-PANTHER that seeks to enroll 300 participants in the global PANTHER trial across 10 US-based sites. I have a long-standing collaborative track record across institutions, groups, and disciplines, and a proven ability to engage with national and international thought leaders in ARDS research.