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Clemente Britto-Leon, MD

Associate Professor Term
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Additional Titles

Associate Director. Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program., Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Director. Pulmonary and Critical Medicine Fellowship Training Program., Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Contact Info

Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

PO Box 208057

New Haven, CT 06520-8057

United States

About

Titles

Associate Professor Term

Associate Director. Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program., Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine; Director. Pulmonary and Critical Medicine Fellowship Training Program., Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Biography

Dr. Britto received his medical degree from the Luis Razetti School of Medicine at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, Venezuela. He completed his Internal Medicine residency training at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Dr. Britto completed his fellowship training in Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine at Yale, followed by a Fellowship in Adult Cystic Fibrosis sponsored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. During his fellowship, Dr. Britto became involved in research focused on the pathogenesis of airway diseases in the laboratory of his mentor, Lauren Cohn, M.D.

Dr. Britto joined the faculty at Yale in 2013, where his clinical responsibilities include being a member of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program and attending in the Medical Intensive Care Unit. These activities complement his research program focused on understanding the role of the airway epithelium in the development of airway diseases such as asthma and cystic fibrosis.

Last Updated on June 02, 2025.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Fellowship
Yale-New Haven Hospital (2013)
Fellowship
Yale-New Haven Hospital (2013)
Residency
Albert Einstein Medical Center (2008)
Residency
Albert Einstein Medical Center (2007)
Internship
Albert Einstein Medical Center (2005)
MD
Universidad Central de Venezuela (2002)

Research

Overview

Dr. Britto is a Physician Scientist investigating pulmonary innate immunity with a focus on host-pathogen interactions in human airways. The overall goal of his research program is to investigate immune cell subset contributions to clinical variability and therapy response in CF or respiratory infections. Dr. Britto's laboratory established a multi-modality protocol to characterize the immune response profile of research subjects using high-throughput technologies including single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq), mass cytometry (CyTOF), and multiplexed cytokine ELISA, for which he is nationally recognized. He currently focuses on two areas: 1) Mechanistic studies on the role of airway host defense proteins in regulating lung inflammation and injury during infection, and 2) Human translational studies of airway inflammation in CF. In addition to these two main areas of focus, in the past year he has collaborated in multiple mechanistic and clinical studies and scholarly activity related to my COVID-19 clinical work and he is a Co-Investigator on four R01-level studies investigating pathogenesis of CF, asthma, and COPD. Dr. Britto' mechanistic and translational work has been funded through multiple sources, including NIH, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and ATS Foundation.

His mechanistic studies focus on Short Palate Lung Nasal epithelium Clone-1 (SPLUNC1), an abundant airway protein with host protective functions that regulates inflammatory responses to bacteria and viruses through Interferon (IFN)-g and -l. He showed that SPLUNC1 modulates lung neutrophilic inflammation, revealing a novel target for future anti-inflammatory therapy development. In parallel human translational work, he showed that SPLUNC1 levels in sputum predict the likelihood of upcoming CF exacerbations, which could inform clinical management to minimize CF morbidity.

Dr. Britto's translational studies focus on single-cell immunophenotyping of cell populations in CF airways . In a recently published manuscript he performed the first single-cell transcriptomic characterization of CF airway immune cells (PMID:32603604). This work was editorialized by leading experts in the field (PMID:32721178) and expanded knowledge of subject-specific immune dysfunction and its contribution to CF clinical course. He is now expanding these studies to investigate sex- and treatment-related differences in CF, the foundation of an R01 proposal to be submitted in June 2024.

CF acute exacerbations (AE) are episodes of rapid clinical deterioration associated with worsening lung function. In work published in the European Respiratory Journal (PMID:33958427), he demonstrated that a combination of sputum inflammation markers including SPLUNC1 and inflammatory cytokines IL-1b and TNFa, robustly predicted upcoming AE. This work has important clinical implications as it could inform changes in clinical management to improve long-term disease control in CF. Our study was editorialized by Colin Bingle, the discoverer of SPLUNC1 (PMID: 34764214). He is now working to define more robust predictive models to anticipate AE and CFTR modulator responses based on integrated biomarker and genomic markers.

Dr. Britto collaborates extensively within and outside of Yale on numerous projects related to airway inflammation, host-pathogen interactions, and cell biology of lung diseases.

Medical Research Interests

Airway Management; Bacterial Infections and Mycoses; Cystic Fibrosis; Epithelium; Immune System Diseases; Lung; Pulmonary Medicine; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Clemente Britto-Leon's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

2023

2022

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

Honors

  • honor

    Carol Basbaum Scientific Recognition Award

  • honor

    New Haven’s Finest Award

Clinical Care

Overview

Clemente Britto-Leon, MD, specializes in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Dr. Britto provides comprehensive care to patients with complex respiratory conditions, including asthma and cystic fibrosis.

As an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Britto is involved in research focusing on the airway epithelium, which is the thin layer of cells lining the airways, and its role in airway diseases. His work examines a protein called SPLUNC1, which is important for cystic fibrosis. Dr. Britto aims to understand how SPLUNC1 affects inflammation in the airways and how it might be used to reduce inflammation in cystic fibrosis.

Dr. Britto received his medical degree from the Luis Razetti School of Medicine at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He completed his internal medicine residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He further specialized with a fellowship in adult cystic fibrosis, sponsored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Clinical Specialties

Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine; Pulmonary Critical Care

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Critical Care Medicine (Internal Medicine)

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Latest Certification Date
    2021
    Original Certification Date
    2011
  • Pulmonary Disease

    Certification Organization
    AB of Internal Medicine
    Latest Certification Date
    2020
    Original Certification Date
    2010

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Get In Touch

Contacts

Appointment Number
Clinic Fax Number
Mailing Address

Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

PO Box 208057

New Haven, CT 06520-8057

United States

Locations

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