Alicia N. Rizzo MD PhD

Dr. Alicia Rizzo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at The University of Pittsburgh. She is both an attending physician in the medical ICU at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian and a researcher who is focused on developing new treatments for critical illness syndromes, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and sepsis. Dr. Rizzo pursued her MD/PhD training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Steven Dudek and Dr. Joe GN Garcia, where she investigated mechanisms of endothelial cytoskeleton regulation of pulmonary vascular permeability. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. She carried out her post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Schmidt, where her work focused on the role of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx, a layer of glycosaminoglycans that lines airways, in lung injury. 

Dr. Rizzo is now a Principal Investigator within the Acute Lung Injury and Infection Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh. Her independent laboratory is focused on developing glycan-targeted precision medicine strategies for critical illness. Her current projects aim to 1) elucidate the mechanisms by which glycocalyx degradation impairs surfactant function, 2) determine the impact of glycocalyx degradation on physiology and outcomes in ARDS, and 3) develop rapid diagnostics to identify the subgroup of patients most likely to benefit from glycan-targeted therapies. Her work is supported by the NIH/NHLBI, the Parker B. Francis Foundation, and institutional funding from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Outside of work, Alicia enjoys all things nature and outdoors (hiking, skiing, scuba diving), exploring Pittsburgh, and spending time with her husband and new baby!