Dr. Dela Cruz completed his research training through an MD/PhD program in the area of immunology and virology from University of Toronto and Yale. Clinically, he is trained in internal medicine, and specializes in pulmonary and critical care medicine and is currently an Assistant Professor at Yale University in the same department. His laboratory is interested in studying the pathogenesis of inflammation, injury and repair in the lung using genetically modified animals. This has allowed the lab to carefully study the molecular and cellular responses of certain novel mediators in the lung.

His laboratory focuses on two main research programs. (1) Studying the effects of cigarette smoke (CS) exposure in the pathogenesis of airway and lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using preclinical genetic mouse models and human biosamples. (2) Studying novel immune regulators in the lung during respiratory infections. The goal of the lab is also to be able to confirm and translate the findings using biospecimens from the established and establishing cohort of human patients with various lung diseases