PITTSBURGH (June 22, 2021) - Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Erick Forno, MD, MPH, on his appointment as director of the Pediatric Asthma Center.
Forno is an associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pulmonology. After obtaining his medical degree from Cayetano Heredia University in Lima (Perú), he completed residency in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado and fellowship in pulmonary medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. During his time in Boston, he received a MPH degree from the Harvard School of Public Health and completed a research fellowship at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He joined the Department of Pediatrics and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2012.
Forno’s main research interests are the epidemiology and genomics of childhood asthma and the effects of obesity on asthma severity. His work has been supported by a departmental K12 grant, a K08 award from the NHLBI, and an R01 grant from the NHLBI to study the role of adipose tissue in obesity-related asthma. To date, he has authored or co-authored over 150 publications. In recognition of his work, he has received the Robert Mellins Award from the Pediatrics Assembly of the American Thoracic Society and the international Klosterfrau Award for his asthma research.
Together with associate professor Allyson S. Larkin, MD from the Division of Allergy and Immunology, Forno is co-director of the Severe Asthma Program at Children's Hospital. He also leads the Children’s Hospital Asthma Registry and has been instrumental in leading the Data Committee for the Children’s Hospital-wide pediatric asthma stakeholder group. He has mentored or co-mentored fellows, residents, and trainees interested in clinical research and quality-improvement projects related to asthma. At a national level, he is leading the establishment of the Severe Pediatric Asthma Consortium, which includes multidisciplinary severe asthma programs from the top pediatric academic centers in the United States.
The Pediatric Asthma Center aims to improve the lives of children with asthma in western Pennsylvania and beyond through cutting-edge research, state-of-the-art clinical care, excellence in education and training, and active community involvement. In his role as center director, Forno will work closely with leadership at the Department of Pediatrics and UPMC to coordinate, oversee, and strengthen asthma research and clinical care at Children’s Hospital.