Robert Homer, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Senior Research ScientistCards
Additional Titles
Director of Medical Studies, Anatomic Pathology
Contact Info
About
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Titles
Professor Emeritus of Pathology and Senior Research Scientist
Director of Medical Studies, Anatomic Pathology
Biography
Historically, my major interests have been in diagnostic and experimental lung pathology. I was lead thoracic pathologist at Yale from 2004 to 2022 and have experience in diagnosing and classifying the full range of histopathology of clinical lung disease. I was also Director of Anatomic Pathology at VA Connecticut HealthCare system (aka the West Haven VA) from 1994 to 2022.
My PhD was on aspects of the murine MHC. My post doctoral fellowship was with Richard Flavell on development of T cell tolerance. Since then, I have helped evaluate various murine models of inflammatory lung disease, ran an NIH funded morphology core for the Yale pulmonary section, and ran a basic laboratory at West Haven VA looking at murine models of pulmonary fibrosis. I now mostly consult on various experimental models of lung disease and work with collaborators analyzing human fibrotic and neoplastic disease.
I am heavily involved in medical school curriculum development as Director of Medical Education for Pathology. I am Co-Director of the pre-clerkship YSM course Attacks and Defenses (covering immunology, infectious disease, microbiology, rheumatology and dermatology). One of my major current interests is exploring use of Large Language Models in medical education.
Appointments
Other Departments & Organizations
- Cancer Signaling Networks
- Cardiovascular Pathology
- Center for Thoracic Cancers
- Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Program
- Occupational & Environmental Lung Diseases Program
- Pathology
- Pathology and Molecular Medicine
- Pathology Research
- Surgical Pathology
- Thoracic Pathology
- Yale Cancer Center
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (1992)
- PhD
- Yale University (1987)
- MD
- Yale University (1987)
Board Certifications
Anatomic Pathology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Pathology
- Original Certification Date
- 1991
Research
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Overview
(1) Pathology of neoplastic and inflammatory lung diseases.
2) Miscellaneous interests include autopsy pathology, case reports, and quality assurance issues in pathology.
Medical Research Interests
ORCID
0000-0002-2055-5885
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Naftali Kaminski, MD
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD
Lauren Cohn, MD
David Rimm, MD, PhD
Mridu Gulati, MD, MPH
Scott Gettinger, MD
Lung
Asthma
Pulmonary Fibrosis
Lung Neoplasms
Lung Diseases, Interstitial
Acute Lung Injury
Publications
2026
Vanin-1 deficiency enhances host tolerance to influenza infection by modulating cellular redox status
Joo J, Pasman L, Yu S, Homer R, Naquet P, Medzhitov R, Hong J. Vanin-1 deficiency enhances host tolerance to influenza infection by modulating cellular redox status. PNAS Nexus 2026, 5: pgag222. PMID: 42369873, PMCID: PMC13308760, DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag222.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchUsing Fiji as a simplified tool for assessing alveolar chord length and septal thickness in neonatal pulmonary disease research
Das P, Martini E, Aloudat O, Tran E, Rajendran D, Agarwal B, Homer R, Bhandari V. Using Fiji as a simplified tool for assessing alveolar chord length and septal thickness in neonatal pulmonary disease research. European Journal Of Medical Research 2026, 31: 707. DOI: 10.1186/s40001-026-04260-9.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsFrom complexity to clarity: GPT-4 for patient-centered prostate cancer pathology reports
Fereydooni S, Homer R, Chartash D. From complexity to clarity: GPT-4 for patient-centered prostate cancer pathology reports. Patient Education And Counseling 2026, 149: 109597. PMID: 41905268, DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2026.109597.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMild SARS-CoV-2 maternal infection in mice induces transient offspring neurodevelopmental aberrance
Tung W, Yuen M, Cai H, Cho H, Lu P, Kliman H, Homer R, Herrerias A, Salla N, Rivera A, Liu Y, Pattabiraman K, Iwasaki A. Mild SARS-CoV-2 maternal infection in mice induces transient offspring neurodevelopmental aberrance. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2026, 123: e2518294123. PMID: 41849379, PMCID: PMC13012083, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2518294123.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricGenomic Characterization of Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers Using Deep Learning
Saha M, Tran T, Bhawsar P, Zhang T, Zhao W, Hoang P, Mutreja K, Lawrence S, Rothman N, Lan Q, Homer R, Baine M, Sholl L, Joubert P, Leduc C, Travis W, Chanock S, Shi J, Yang S, Almeida J, Landi M. Genomic Characterization of Lung Cancer in Never-Smokers Using Deep Learning. Modern Pathology 2026, 39: 100973. PMID: 41638573, PMCID: PMC12975288, DOI: 10.1016/j.modpat.2026.100973.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAberrant cellular communities underlying disease heterogeneity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Zhang Y, Wei H, Nouws J, Jiang W, Brewster R, Nguyen J, Liang S, Pass S, Wang W, Collin F, Oill A, Kim S, Siller S, Liu J, Zhao A, Hansbro P, Dela Cruz C, Britto C, Gomez J, Cloonan S, Herzog E, Lam T, Banovich N, Raredon M, Zhang X, Mangiola S, Homer R, Kaminski N, McDonough J, Polverino F, Yan X, Sauler M. Aberrant cellular communities underlying disease heterogeneity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nature Genetics 2026, 58: 376-391. PMID: 41578022, PMCID: PMC12900648, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02480-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricCommentary on: Update of the international multidisciplinary classification of the interstitial pneumonias: an ERS/ATS statement
Homer R. Commentary on: Update of the international multidisciplinary classification of the interstitial pneumonias: an ERS/ATS statement. European Respiratory Journal 2026, 67: 2501947. PMID: 41506684, DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01947-2025.Commentaries, Editorials and Letters
2025
Microbiome analysis of 940 lung cancers in never-smokers reveals lack of clinically relevant associations
McElderry J, Zhang T, Zhao W, Hoang P, Anyaso-Samuel S, Sang J, Khandekar A, Hartman C, Colón-Matos F, Miraftab M, Saha M, Lee O, Sharma S, Jones K, Zhu B, Díaz-Gay M, Mas L, Arrieta O, Edell E, Santamaría J, Schabath M, Yendamuri S, Manczuk M, Lissowska J, Świątkowska B, Mukeria A, Shangina O, Zaridze D, Holcatova I, Janout V, Mates D, Ognjanovic S, Savic M, Kontic M, Bossé Y, Gould Rothberg B, Christiani D, Gaborieau V, Brennan P, Liu G, Hofman P, Wong M, Leung K, Chen C, Hsiung C, Rothman N, Leduc C, Baine M, Travis W, Sholl L, Joubert P, Homer R, Yang S, Lan Q, Nowak M, Wedge D, Alexandrov L, Chanock S, Vogtmann E, Abnet C, Shi J, Landi M. Microbiome analysis of 940 lung cancers in never-smokers reveals lack of clinically relevant associations. Nature Communications 2025, 17: 192. PMID: 41387456, PMCID: PMC12780107, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66780-y.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsCitationsAltmetricUncovering the role of LINE-1 in the evolution of lung adenocarcinoma
Zhang T, Zhao W, Wirth C, Díaz-Gay M, Yin J, Cecati M, Marchegiani F, Hoang P, Leduc C, Baine M, Travis W, Sholl L, Joubert P, Sang J, McElderry J, Antony M, Klein A, Khandekar A, Hartman C, Rosenbaum J, Colón-Matos F, Miraftab M, Saha M, Lee O, Jones K, Caporaso N, Wong M, Leung K, Hsiung C, Chen C, Edell E, Santamaría J, Schabath M, Yendamuri S, Manczuk M, Lissowska J, Świątkowska B, Mukeria A, Shangina O, Zaridze D, Holcatova I, Mates D, Milosavljevic S, Savic M, Bossé Y, Rothberg B, Christiani D, Gaborieau V, Brennan P, Liu G, Hofman P, Homer R, Yang S, Pesatori A, Consonni D, Yang L, Zhu B, Shi J, Brown K, Rothman N, Chanock S, Alexandrov L, Choi J, Cardelli M, Lan Q, Nowak M, Wedge D, Landi M. Uncovering the role of LINE-1 in the evolution of lung adenocarcinoma. Nature 2025, 650: 230-241. PMID: 41372401, PMCID: PMC12823094, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09825-y.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricA prognostic signature for lung adenocarcinoma in patients who have never smoked
Zhao W, Zhang T, Hua X, Hoang P, Miraftab M, Saha M, McElderry J, Sang J, Lee O, Hartman C, Khandekar A, Sharma S, Colón-Matos F, Anyaso-Samuel S, Wang D, Jones K, Hutchinson A, Hicks B, Rosenbaum J, Zhong X, Yang Y, Pesatori A, Consonni D, Christiani D, Leung K, Wong M, Manczuk M, Lissowska J, Świątkowska B, Mukeria A, Shangina O, Zaridze D, Holcatova I, Mates D, Milosavljevic S, Ognjanovic S, Savic M, Kontic M, Gaborieau V, Brennan P, Arrieta O, Bossé Y, Edell E, Schabath M, Hofman P, Mas L, Yendamuri S, Chen C, Chang I, Hsiung C, Liu G, Santamaría J, Rothberg B, Mutreja K, Lawrence S, Rothman N, Alexandrov L, Leduc C, Baine M, Joubert P, Sholl L, Travis W, Homer R, Lan Q, Chanock S, Yang L, Yang S, Shi J, Landi M. A prognostic signature for lung adenocarcinoma in patients who have never smoked. Cancer Discovery 2025, 16: 460-477. PMID: 41165571, PMCID: PMC12822368, DOI: 10.1158/2159-8290.cd-25-0581.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Determining Mechanisms of Sensitivity and Resistance to Anti-Cancer Therapy for Advanced Lung Cancer
IRB ID1603017333RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date06/16/2036Recruiting Participants
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Activities
activity American Journal of Pathology
08/04/2023 - 08/07/2026Journal ServiceEditorial Board Memberactivity APC Advocacy committee
08/25/2023 - 08/08/2025Advisory BoardsBoard MemberDetailsAssociation of Pathology ChairsAcademically-focused advocacy objectives in education, practice and research.activity From Bots to Docs, Harnessing AI in the medical education journey
07/10/2023 - 07/12/2023LectureAssociation of Pathology Chairs, Undergraduate Medical Education SectionDetailsChicago, IL, United States
Honors
honor Keynote address
06/24/2009International AwardPulmonary Pathology SocietyDetailsUnited States
News & Links
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Media
- Eosinophilic response in fibrotic lung disease.
News
- June 21, 2024Source: College of American Pathologists Today
How-well-does-chatgpt-do-on-pathology-questions?
- April 01, 2024
Yale Faculty Present Groundbreaking Clinical Research at the 2024 American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions
- August 03, 2023
Lung Adenocarcinomas: New Findings About Resistance to Targeted Therapies
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