Precision Pulmonary Medicine (P-PULM) Program

A Precision Pulmonary Medicine, P-PULM, is a multidisciplinary research initiative that integrates advanced biomedical technologies—such as multi-omics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, and exposomics—with clinical and social data to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of lung and respiratory diseases. The goal is to tailor interventions to individual patients based on their unique molecular, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle profiles.

P-PULM is housed within the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Indiana University. The program provides a robust framework for applying omics technologies to improve the diagnosis and management of lung and respiratory diseases, with a focus on identifying molecular characteristics that enable more precise prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Members of P-PULM have access to cutting-edge technologies led by a dedicated analytics team with expertise in statistics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, and functional genomics. The program hosts a fully equipped computational lab featuring high-performance Mac, PC, and Linux workstations, servers, and parallel computing resources. All necessary software for pulmonary research and access to research databases are available.

Innovative Multidisciplinary Research Design

Our program is built on a multidisciplinary approach to understand the environmental, genetic, and biological factors contributing to pulmonary diseases. Key research goals include:

Understanding the biological and environmental exposure basis of individual variations in pulmonary and respiratory diseases presentation, treatment response, and outcomes.
Identifying clinical practices that exacerbate health disparities and developing alternative solutions to promote equitable care.
Share the latest findings from basic science and translational research that will inform the development of precision medicine approaches to the treatment or prevention of pulmonary and respiratory diseases.

Director

Tesfaye B. Mersha, PhD

Director, Precision Pulmonary Medicine Research Program

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Who We Are

Our program is a diverse and collaborative team of clinical researchers, laboratory scientists, statistics, biostatistics and bioinformaticians. United by a shared commitment to advancing lung health, we work at the intersection of omics, immunology, environmental exposure and lung diseases to address complex scientific questions and improve patient care.

Join Us!

Please fill out the details below to apply for P-PULM affiliated Program Membership.

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Our Strategy

We are building a program rooted in team science, bringing together innovators across disciplines to cross-fertilize research and maximize impact—especially for individuals affected pulmonary conditions.

Our Vision

Advancing lung health for all - where every patient receives care tailored to their unique biology, environment, and lifestyle-centered strategies.

Our Mission

To transform pulmonary, critical care, allergy and sleep medicine through pioneering research, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the rapid integration of omics and non-omics sources in precision medicine.

Core Components of PULM-P

Research Focus

Leveraging Omics Technologies—including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, and more—to uncover molecular mechanisms and biomarkers relevant to lung diseases.

Translational Focus

Translating Omics discoveries into clinically actionable diagnostics and treatment strategies that improve care for patients with pulmonary conditions.

Education Focus

Advancing the understanding and application of precision medicine among researchers and clinicians through training, workshops, and collaborative learning.

Team Members

Yadu Gautam, PhD

Biostatistician/Program Manager

I received my PhD in statistics from Central Michigan University in 2014. I joined Mersha Lab in 2017 as a postdoctoral fellow. In the Mersha Lab, I am working on genomics projects aimed at detecting predisposing genes and environmental exposer risk factors in asthma and related phenotypes. I am interested in both application and computational tools development in big biological data to investigate the genetics and environment risk factors for common and complex diseases. I developing a novel tool called AdmixPower for power and sample size analysis of admixture mapping studies. Currently, I focus on multi-omics integration projects. Besides working in the lab, I spend some time reading news and watching cartoons with my kids.

Eskezeia Dessie, PhD

Research Fellow

I earned a MS in biostatistics from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and a PhD in bioinformatics and medical engineering from Asia University in Taiwan. I am interested in developing and applying statistical, machine learning and bioinformatics methods into biomedical data. In 2021, I joined Dr. Mersha’s Lab as a Research Fellow to uncover genetic, epigenetic, and environmental exposer risk factors in asthma and asthma-associated allergic diseases. I am also interested in improving the predictive performance of polygenic risk scores in complex human diseases including asthma and cancer.