About

Steven D. Douglas, M.D., is a faculty member at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, serving as Chief of the Section of Immunology within the Division of Allergy-Immunology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. His research focuses on cellular immune mechanisms, particularly involving monocyte-macrophages, and their interaction with neuropeptides such as Substance P and its receptor, Neurokinin-1 (NK1R). Dr. Douglas investigates the immunopathogenesis of HIV, exploring how neuropeptides influence immune activation and suppression, and has demonstrated that NK1R antagonists can block HIV through CCR5, applying these findings as potential HIV therapies. His laboratory studies molecular and cellular immunologic aspects of Substance P and NK1R, including their roles in HIV infection, immune regulation, and psychiatric interactions, such as associations between Substance P, natural killer cell activity, and depression in HIV-infected individuals. Dr. Douglas has contributed to the discovery of the truncated form of NK1R in human cells and has developed methods for isolating and differentiating blood monocytes into macrophages, elucidating their role in HIV infection. He has also been involved in extensive clinical and translational research, leading multiple therapeutic trials for HIV/AIDS through national networks, and serves as the principal investigator for the Philadelphia IMPAACT Unit and the Adolescent Trial Network. His work integrates basic immunology, translational research, and clinical trials to advance understanding and treatment of HIV and related immune disorders.

Research topics

• Biology
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Pharmacology
• Computational biology
• Internal medicine
• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Computational Translation of Mouse Models of Osteoarthritis Predicts Human Disease

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025-02-28 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Objective: Translation of biological insights from preclinical studies to human disease is a pressing challenge in biomedical research, including in osteoarthritis. Translatable Components Regression (TransComp-R) is a computational framework that has previously been used to synthesize preclinical and human OA data to identify biological pathways predictive of human disease conditions. We aimed to evaluate the translatability of two common murine models of post-traumatic osteoarthritis - surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) and noninvasive anterior cruciate ligament rupture (ACLR) - to transcriptomics cartilage data from human OA outcomes. Design: Transcriptomics cartilage data of DMM and ACLR mouse and human data was acquired from Gene Expression Omnibus. TransComp-R was used to project human OA data into a mouse model (DMM or ACLR) principal component analysis space. The principal components (PCs) were regressed against human OA conditions using increasing complexity of linear regression models incorporating human demographic covariates of OA, sex, and age. Biological pathways of the mouse PCs that significantly stratified human OA and control groups were then interpreted using Gene Set Enrichment Analysis. Results: From the TransComp-R model, we identified different enriched biological pathways across DMM and ACLR models. While PCs among the DMM models revealed pathways associated with cell signaling and metabolism, ACLR PCs represented immune function and cellular pathways associated with OA condition. The immune pathways presented in the ACLR further highlighted the potential relevance of the OA pathways observed in human conditions. Conclusions: The ACLR mouse model more successfully predicted human OA conditions, particularly with the human control groups without a history of joint injury or disease. Cross-species translational approaches support the selection of preclinical models intended for therapeutic discovery and pathway analysis in humans.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Comparison of the surgical and safety outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy using the Hugo™ RAS platform and DaVinci

  2025-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Tachykinin receptors in GtoPdb v.2023.1

  IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology CITE · 2023-04-26 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Tachykinin receptors (provisional nomenclature as recommended by NC-IUPHAR [91]) are activated by the endogenous peptides substance P (SP), neurokinin A (NKA; previously known as substance K, neurokinin α, neuromedin L), neurokinin B (NKB; previously known as neurokinin β, neuromedin K), neuropeptide K and neuropeptide γ (N-terminally extended forms of neurokinin A). The neurokinins (A and B) are mammalian members of the tachykinin family, which includes peptides of mammalian and nonmammalian origin containing the consensus sequence: Phe-x-Gly-Leu-Met. Marked species differences in in vitro pharmacology exist for all three receptors, in the context of nonpeptide ligands. Antagonists such as aprepitant and fosaprepitant were approved by FDA and EMA, in combination with other antiemetic agents, for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with emetogenic cancer chemotherapy.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2023/24: G protein-coupled receptors

  British Journal of Pharmacology · 2023 · 386 citations

  • Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • Chemistry

  The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2023/24 is the sixth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews, mostly in tabular format, of the key properties of approximately 1800 drug targets, and about 6000 interactions with about 3900 ligands. There is an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (https://www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. Although the Concise Guide constitutes almost 500 pages, the material presented is substantially reduced compared to information and links presented on the website. It provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates. The full contents of this section can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/bph.16177. G protein-coupled receptors are one of the six major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The landscape format of the Concise Guide is designed to facilitate comparison of related targets from material contemporary to mid-2023, and supersedes data presented in the 2021/22, 2019/20, 2017/18, 2015/16 and 2013/14 Concise Guides and previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in close conjunction with the Nomenclature and Standards Committee of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (NC-IUPHAR), therefore, providing official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate.

  PublisherDOI

• Modulation of Phagocyte Function by Nutrition in HIV-1 Infection

  2022-01-12

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  The effects of malnutrition on immunologic and host defense mechanisms include effects on nonspecific factors such as skin and mucous membranes, acute phase reactants, complement activity, immunoglobulin levels, phagocyte function, and cell mediated immunity. Malnutrition leads to altered function of the two major phagocytic cells, the neutrophil and mononuclear phagocyte. Furthermore, the influence of human immunodeficiency virus-1 infection and tuberculosis on phagocyte function may further potentiate deficiencies in cell function. Studies of the mononuclear phagocyte in malnutrition thus far have shown evidence in the decrease in microbicidal and viricidal activity. Fibronectin levels in the serum, a secretory product of mononuclear phagocytes, are decreased in infants with protein calorie malnutrition, and increase to greater than normal values following nutritional support. A complex series of events are involved in phagocytic function. The relationship between cytokines and infectivity of phagocytes has long been of considerable interest.

  PublisherDOI

• Neurokinin-1 receptor signaling induces a pro-inflammatory transcriptomic profile in CD16+ monocytes

  Journal of Neuroimmunology · 2021-02-21 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Number of opioid overdoses and depression as a predictor of suicidal thoughts

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2021-04-24 · 13 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: G protein‐coupled receptors

  British Journal of Pharmacology · 2021 · 486 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Computational biology

  The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22 is the fifth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews, mostly in tabular format, of the key properties of nearly 1900 human drug targets with an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.org), which provides more detailed views of target and ligand properties. Although the Concise Guide constitutes over 500 pages, the material presented is substantially reduced compared to information and links presented on the website. It provides a permanent, citable, point-in-time record that will survive database updates. The full contents of this section can be found at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/bph.15538. G protein-coupled receptors are one of the six major pharmacological targets into which the Guide is divided, with the others being: ion channels, nuclear hormone receptors, catalytic receptors, enzymes and transporters. These are presented with nomenclature guidance and summary information on the best available pharmacological tools, alongside key references and suggestions for further reading. The landscape format of the Concise Guide is designed to facilitate comparison of related targets from material contemporary to mid-2021, and supersedes data presented in the 2019/20, 2017/18, 2015/16 and 2013/14 Concise Guides and previous Guides to Receptors and Channels. It is produced in close conjunction with the Nomenclature and Standards Committee of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (NC-IUPHAR), therefore, providing official IUPHAR classification and nomenclature for human drug targets, where appropriate.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Endogenous control of inflammation characterizes pregnant women with asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (vol 12, 4677, 2021)

  Nature Communications · 2021-01-01

  articleOpen access
  Publisher

• HIV Infection and Depression Among Opiate Users in a US Epicenter of the Opioid Epidemic

  AIDS and Behavior · 2021-01-15 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P01MH076388

  NIH · $12.8M · 2010

• NIH Grant U01AI069467

  NIH · $9.3M · 2013

• NIH Grant P51RR000164

  NIH · $54.5M · 2013

• Developmental Core B

  NIH · $44.1M · 2013–2028

• NIH Grant R21AI108296

  NIH · $446k · 2016

Frequent coauthors

• Craig M. Wilson

  University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

  339 shared

• Charles B. Stephensen

  190 shared

• Grace S. Marquis

  185 shared

• L. Kruzich

  Iowa State University

  182 shared

• Wen‐Zhe Ho

  170 shared

• Donald E. Campbell

  159 shared

• Jianping Lai

  Qingdao University of Science and Technology

  112 shared

• Richard A. Polin

  Research Network (United States)

  110 shared

Education

• Fellow, Immunology

  University of California, San Francisco

  1969

• Resident - Medicine

  Mount Sinai Hospital

  1967

• Staff Associate, Lab Exper. Pathology

  National Institutes of Health

  1966

• Medicine, Internal Medicine

  Mt. Sinai School of Medicine

  1964

• MD, Medicine

  Cornell University, Medical College

  1963

• AB, Zoology

  Cornell University

  1959

Awards & honors

• Recipient of Abbott Immunology Award
• Neter Award
• Conason Award
• Redway Award
• Member ASCI