Clinical Interests: asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic respiratory failure, congenital lung disease, cystic fibrosis. Dr. Hershenson is a board certified Pediatric Pulmonologist at The University of Michigan Medical School.

Viral-induced asthma exacerbation, early-life viral infections in the development of asthma

The focus of my laboratory is respiratory viral infections, in particular rhinovirus infections. In addition to causing the "common cold," rhinovirus infections cause exacerbation of asthma, COPD and other chronic lung diseases. Early-life rhinovirus infections have also been associated with bronchiolitis and the development of asthma. Finally, we have studied other respiratory viruses including enterovirus-D68, which has been associated with a polio-like illness in children, and human coronavirus-NL63, a non-COVID coronavirus which causes common colds as well as pneumonia in vulnerable populations. Our work combines cell culture, animal models and human subjects research.