Dr. Suratt received his BA from Amherst College in 1988, and his MD from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1993. He completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1996, before pursuing fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. His research training was performed in the laboratories of Drs. Scott Worthen and Peter Henson, at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

Research Interests

The focus of our research is the overlap between inflammation and repair mechanisms in the lung. Our ongoing work examines the role of the bone marrow in 1) the release of inflammatory cells, particularly neutrophils, during the progression of inflammatory states such as acute lung injury, and 2) the derivation of circulating stem cells capable of repairing and remodeling the injured lung. Several cytokine and cell adhesion pathways appear to play overlapping critical roles in the trafficking of both inflammatory cells and stem cells from the marrow in the later period of lung injury, and yet very little is known about this period of transition from injury to repair. We have evidence to suggest that reciprocal regulation of several cytokines - particularly SDF-1 and G-CSF - between the marrow and the lung may drive this process, and are currently pursuing this hypothesis. Other efforts in the lab include investigations of the pro-inflammatory effects marrow engraftment following transplantation, as witnessed in the clinically defined ‘Engraftment Syndrome’ which leads to significant morbidity and mortality in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients. We are also examining the effects of obesity on the innate immune system and the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS.

Marrow neutrophils associated with stromal cells. Much of the release and recirculation of neutrophils is controlled by these 'nurse' cells.

A murine model of transplant pneumonitis. Mice and humans show a susceptibilitiy to exuberant inflammation during hematopoietic engraftment. Such inflammation of the lungs is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality following marrow transplant. We use a lipopolysaccharide induced injury model in engrafting mice to duplicate this injury, as shown.

Selected Publications

JM Petty, CC Lenox, DJ Weiss, ME Poynter, BT Suratt, Crosstalk between CXCR4/SDF-1 and VLA-4/VCAM-1 pathways regulates neutrophil retention in the bone marrow. J Immunology 2009 Jan 1;182(1):604-12.

BT Suratt, MD Eisner, CS Calfee, JB Allard, LA Whittaker, DT Engelken, J Petty, T Trimarchi, L Gauthier, PE Parsons, and the NHLBI Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Network. Plasma G-CSF levels correlate with clinical outcomes in patients with acute lung injury. Crit Care Med 2009 Apr;37(4):1322-8.

AE Dixon, DM Raymond, BT Suratt, LM Bourassa, CG Irvin, Lower airway disease in asthmatics with and without rhinitis. Lung 2008 Nov-Dec;186(6):361-8.

JM Petty, V Sueblinvong, CC Lenox., CC Jones, GP Cosgrove, CC Cool, RR Rai, KK Brown, DJ Weiss, ME Poynter, BT Suratt Pulmonary Stromal Derived Factor-1 (SDF-1) expression and effect on neutrophil recruitment during acute lung injury. J Immunology 2007; 178:8148-57.

GB Allen, BT Suratt, L Rinaldi, JM Petty, JHT Bates. Choosing the frequency of deep inflation in mice: Balancing recruitment against ventilator-induced lung injury. Am J Physiol 2006; 291:L710-7

R Loi, T Beckett, KK Goncz, BT Suratt, DJ Weiss. Limited restoration of cystic fibrosis lung epithelium in vivo with adult marrow-derived cells. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006;173: 171-9.

T Beckett, R Loi, R Prenovitz, M Poynter, KK Goncz, BT Suratt, DJ Weiss. Acute Lung Injury with Endotoxin or NO(2) Does Not Enhance Development of Airway Epithelium from Bone Marrow. Mol Ther. 2005 Jul 15

BT Suratt, JM Petty, SK Young, KC Malcolm, J Lieber, JA Nick, PM Henson, GS Worthen, Role of the CXCR4/SDF-1 chemokine axis in circulating neutrophil homeostasis. Blood 2004; 104: 565-571

J Lieber, S Webb, BT Suratt, SR Young, GL Johnson, GM Keller, GS Worthen, The in vitro production and characterization of neutrophils from embryonic stem cells. Blood 2004; 103:852-859

BT Suratt, CD Cool, AE Serls, L Chen, M Varella-Garcia, EJ Shpall, KK Brown, GS Worthen. Human pulmonary chimerism after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2003 Aug 1;168(3):318-22

JA Nick, SK Young, PG Arndt, J Lieber, BT Suratt, KR Poch, NJ Avdi, KC Malcolm, C Taub, PM Henson, GS Worthen, Selective suppression of neutrophil accumulation in ongoing pulmonary inflammation by systemic inhibition of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase. J. Immunol 2002; 169:5260-9

BT Suratt, SK Young, J Lieber, JA Nick, PM Henson, GS Worthen, Regulation of neutrophil clearance from the circulation: Anatomic site and effect of activation. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Phys 2001; 281:L913-21

JA Nick, SK Young, KK Brown, NJ Avdi, BT Suratt, MS Janes, PM Henson, GS Worthen, Role of p38 MAP kinase in a murine model of pulmonary inflammation. J Immunol 2000; 164:2151-9