News and Events

Dr. Georas has joined the NIH Precision Interventions for Severe and Exacerbation Prone Asthma (PrecISE) Network. This new NIH initiative will establish a network of 10 Clinical Centers in the U.S. conducting innovative research using adaptive clinical trials. Dr. Georas serves as Steering Committee chair, with co-chair Dr. Rosalind Wright.

Physician-scientist Steve N. Georas, M.D., professor of Medicine, Environmental Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, was installed as the inaugural Parkes Family Professor June 5.

Walter and the late Carmina Parkes, and their children Susan, Tom and Linda, were driven to open the first asthma center in the region. They have been a steady force in the growth of the UR Medicine's Mary M. Parkes Center for Asthma, Allergy and Pulmonary Care, working closely with center leaders, educators and scientists. The center is located on Red Creek Drive in Henrietta and serves as the leader for the diagnosis, treatment and research of acute asthma, allergies and other pulmonary diseases.

"It was our family's dream to honor the memory of our daughter with the center. Now, establishing a professorship allows us to make it everlasting," said Walter Parkes, chairman of O'Connell Electric Co. The family has committed $1.5 million to the University.

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The family of the late Mary M. Parkes, for whom the UR Medicine center is named, is continuing its mission of advancing care and research with creation of the Walter & Carmina Mary Parkes Family Endowed Professorship at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Physician-scientist Steve N. Georas, M.D., professor of Medicine, Environmental Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, was installed as the inaugural Parkes Family Professor June 5.

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University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have discovered new essential information about omega 3 fatty acids contained in fish oil and how they could be used for asthma patients.

In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation—Insight, researchers using cell cultures from local asthma patients, found that:

• Omega-3 fatty acid products can reduce the production of IgE, the antibodies that cause allergic reactions and asthma symptoms in people with milder cases of asthma
• But in patients with severe asthma who use high doses of oral steroids, the omega-3 fatty acids are less effective because the corticosteroids block the beneficial effects

Lead author Richard P. Phipps, Ph.D., the Wright Family Research Professor of Environmental Medicine, and his lab had previously shown that certain fatty acids contained in fish oil regulate the function of immune cells (B cells). They wanted to further investigate the effects on asthma.

People with asthma have an imbalance between molecules that dampen inflammation and those that increase inflammation. Using steroids as treatment controls the inflammation and relieves symptoms, but does not cure the underlying disease.

Thanks to the exceptional generosity of Walter Parkes and family, Dr. Georas was named the Walter and Carmina Mary Parkes Family Professor in 2017. This position will allow the Georas Lab to expand into new directions and accelerate research into new treatments for patients suffering from asthma.