Dr. Nicolino Valerio Dorrello is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons since 2015. He obtained his MD from University of Naples (Italy) in 2000 and his PhD in Molecular Oncology at New York University in 2004, focusing on the role of ubiquitin mediated proteolysis in cell cycle regulation. He then completed a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2010 and a subsequent pediatric residency at Columbia University before staying for his Fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and then as faculty. Dr. Dorrello is double board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Critical Care in Unites States and in Pediatrics in Europe. In his clinical duties in the pediatric critical care unit, one of the most devastating and common injuries he comes across, unfortunately, is severe, progressive lung injury. What represents a daily clinical challenge – making these patients better – has become his research passion. He has recently succeeded in developing an airway-specific method to efficiently remove only the lung epithelium (de-epithelialization) while preserving lung vasculature and architecture in anex vivo rodent model. This new functional, vascularized lung graft then enabled the attachment and engraftment of lung epithelial progenitors.

Dr. Dorrello's laboratory is focused on elucidating the optimal strategies to selectively remove defective lung epithelial cells and supportthe proliferation and differentiation of lung progenitors towards healthy epithelium and ultimately lung repair.

Dr. Dorrello has published in international peer -reviewed journals of highest reputation, such as Science, Nature, Molecular Cell, PNAS, and Science Advances.