Thomas Byrd III, MD

Biography

Dr. Byrd received his M.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1981. He then did his internal medicine residency at the University of Florida where he stayed an additional year as Chief Medical Resident. Following this Dr. Byrd did a clinical/research infectious diseases fellowship at UCLA and worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marcus Horwitz.

Personal Statement

I have been involved in research involving intracellular pathogens since I was a junior faculty member. My work has included seminal publications involving the pathogenesis of iron in Legionella pneumophila infection. I took my interest in iron and bacterial pathogenesis and moved into the area of mycobacterial pathogenesis. I have been interested in the role that cording plays in Mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogenesis and in speaking in an investigator during a job interview discovered that Mycobacterium abscessus displays a cording phenotype. This then began my research efforts into M. abscessus pathogenesis. I published my first papers in this area long before it has become the emerging infection that it is now recognized to be. I am currently involved in research, education, and administration with part time clinical duties. As Director for the Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity, I am involved in research projects that utilize our ABSL-3 facility. As Executive Chair of the UNM HSC IRB I am well versed in the area of bioethics in human subjects research, and I am a resource for information in this area. In the clinical sphere, I staff an infectious disease consult clinic and I care for patients with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) pulmonary infections in a bimonthly clinic that I staff with a pulmonary medicine subspecialist, Dr. Kitty Busby, where I also conduct clinical research.

Areas of Specialty

Mycobacterial pathogenesis Lung infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria Intracellular pathogens Infectious diseases T cell mediated immunity

Certifications

Diplomate, Subspecialty of Infectious Diseases, American Board of Internal Medicine Diplomate in Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

Achievements & Awards

-Member-VA Merit Review Advisory Group (MRAG) Aug 2000- Jan 2004 NIAID Special Review Committee - "Tuberculosis Diagnostics" June 29-30, 1994 -Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. BioTech Workshop; Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Fort Belvoir, Virginia, June 14, 2006 -Use of cytokines in Legionella pneumophila infections. Workshop: Haematopoietic growth factors and mononuclear phagocytes. Lugano, Switzerland, May 3, 1992 -Venezuelan equine encephalitis and small RNA inhibitors Role: Co-investigator (PI Steven Bradfute, Ph.D.) Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Department of Defense 4/01/20 - 3/31/23 Award: $2,110,989.00 -A mouse model of Mycobacterium abscessus lung infection that mimics human disease. Role: Principal Investigator NIH R03 5/22/18-4/30/20 (continuing with no cost extension) Award: $150,000.00 -Mycobacterium abscessus glycopeptidolipid and the pathogenesis of lung disease in cystic fibrosis. Role: Principal Investigator Cystic Fibrosis Foundation July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2010 Award: $180,000.00 -The role of Mycobacterium abscessus glycopeptidolipid in colonization and invasion. Role: Principal Investigator American Lung Association DeSouza Award July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2008 Award: $300,000.00 -Phenotypic characterization and genetic analysis of a Mycobacterium abscessus mutant. Role: Principal Investigator VA Merit Review August 1999 - April 2003 Award: $440,000.00 -Iron and TNF in Cytokine Restriction of M. tuberculosis. Role: Principal Investigator National Institutes of Health First Award (R29). October 1993 - September 1999. Award: $350,000.00

Languages

• English

Courses Taught

In addition to lectures given to trainees in the infectious diseases division, in my role as Executive Chair of the UNM HSC Human Research Review Committee I give a number of lectures each year to different groups on aspects of human subject research protection. I have also given the following month long seminar course: --Course Director and preceptor - “Bioethics in Clinical Research” BIOM 567 - target group - faculty, medical residents and pharmacy students who are enrolled in the Masters of Science in Clinical Research Program at UNM HSC - 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Research and Scholarship

-Byrd, T.F. and M.A. Horwitz. 1989. Interferon gamma-activated human monocytes downregulate transferrin receptors and inhibit the intracellular multiplication of Legionella pneumophila by limiting the availability of iron. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 83:1457-1465 -Byrd, T.F. and C.R. Lyons. 1999. Preliminary characterization of a Mycobacterium abscessus mutant in human and murine models of infection. Infection and Immunity 67:4700-4707 -Howard, S.T., Rhoades, E., Recht, J., Alsup, A., Pang, X., Kolter, R., Lyons, C.R., and T.F. Byrd. 2006. Spontaneous reversion of Mycobacterium abscessus from a smooth to a rough morphotype results in reduced expression of glycopeptidolipid and reacquisition of an invasive phenotype. Microbiology 152: 1581-1590 -Greendyke, R., and T.F. Byrd. 2008. Differential antibiotic susceptibility of Mycobacterium abscessus variants in biofilms and macrophages compared to that of planktonic bacteria. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 52:2019-2026 -Rhoades ER, Archambault AS, Greendyke R, Hsu F, Streeter C, and T.F. Byrd. 2009. Mycobacterium abscessus glycopeptidolipid masks underlying cell wall phosphatidyl-myo-inositol mannosides preventing their interaction with human monocyte toll-like receptor 2. Journal of Immunology 183: 1997-2007 -Ryan, K, and T.F. Byrd. 2018. Mycobacterium abscessus: Shapeshifter of the mycobacterial world. Frontiers in Microbiology https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.02642 (Part of Research Topic Series “NTM - The New Uber-Bugs”)