Current activity: Nick completed Postdoctoral training in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School in the laboratory of Steven L. Kunkel, Ph.D. in 1993. Upon completion of his Postdoctoral training he accepted a faculty position in the Department of Pathology faculty as an Assistant Research Professor. In 2001, Nick was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. In addition to establishing an independent research program, Nick has become a key member of the Department's teaching programs and plays a significant role in the Pathology Graduate Program.
Over the past several years the Lukacs' laboratory research has focused on the interrelationship of cytokines, chemokines, and leukocyte activation during asthmatic airway and Th1/Th2 cytokine immune responses. The development of a clinically relevant mouse cockroach allergen model that demonstrates a number of in vivo correlates to human asthma has been successfully utilized to further elucidate novel mechanisms of pulmonary inflammation. The areas that have been successfully investigated using the allergic airway models include mast cell biology, eosinophilic inflammation, and T lymphocyte activation. In addition, the laboratory has examined the role of pulmonary viral infections (Respiratory Syncitial Virus and Influenza) on exacerbation and increased development of allergic asthmatic responses. Using these different models, particular leukocyte populations that have an effect during different stages of asthmatic-like responses within the lung have been identified. Identification of specific cytokine and chemokine mediators that are involved in each of these models have been elucidated and studies have correlated these pathways to clinical disease using physiological measurements in the lung. These studies have not only identify relevant targets for each of the individual models, but have also helped to identify the factors involved in the development of severe asthmatic disease.