Lindsey Bazzone, MD, PhD
By DoM Communications | Date published: May 15, 2026
May Researcher Spotlight: Lindsey Bazzone, MD, PhD
In this month’s Researcher Spotlight, we feature Lindsey Bazzone, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Bazzone’s current research focuses on mechanisms of virus-induced immune dysfunction and dysregulation.
Early in her educational career, Dr. Bazzone developed a passion for science, specifically in infectious disease research. “I was in college when I started doing infectious disease research on malaria,” explained Dr. Bazzone. “But with it, also came an interest in medicine as well.”
With interests in both research and medicine, Dr. Bazzone pursued her MD and PhD at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, completing the Physician Scientist Training Program. She then went on to complete her internal medicine residency at UMass Chan Medical School, where she also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship under Robert W. Finberg, MD, in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Research Pathway. Over the course of her medical training, a shift in interests led Dr. Bazzone to pursue a clinical fellowship in Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at UMass Chan.
As a physician-scientist at UMass, Dr. Bazzone serves as the Medical Director of the 6ICU Medical Intensive Care Unit and is developing her own basic science research lab on campus, where she focuses primarily on mechanisms of virus-induced immune dysfunction and dysregulation. Currently, Dr. Bazzone and her colleagues are studying respiratory diseases, specifically SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), as well as the multifunctional human protein, ADAM9.
Building on her previous work in the Finberg Lab, Dr. Bazzone is exploring how repeated respiratory infections impact immune responses in patients and how the responses impact the long-term progression of disease.
“We are currently looking at how the ADAM9 protein shapes the immune response during infection with certain viruses,” explained Dr. Bazzone. “My global focus is to look at virus-induced inflammatory responses in the lungs and how virus infections, or repeat infections, shape lung injury, both acutely and over time.”
Throughout her research, Dr. Bazzone frequently collaborates with members of the Fitzgerald Lab and is currently working on a project with Drs. Hardy Kornfeld and Larissa Smulan to study how the ADAM9 protein affects the lungs in tuberculosis infections.
“I do a lot of work with Dr. Kate Fitzgerald; she’s been my mentor since Dr. Finberg passed away,” shared Dr. Bazzone.
Among her clinical and research responsibilities, Dr. Bazzone emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance between the two.
“I primarily practice in the ICU, so trying to maintain that balance of full-time research and clinical work is both challenging and something that I absolutely love,” said Dr. Bazzone. “Caring for critically ill patients, supporting families through difficult decisions, and teaching residents is truly rewarding, but it’s nice because after, I can return to the land of research where I can develop unique ideas and ways of advancing care.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Bazzone hopes to expand her lab to further advance research initiatives that may one day impact the lives of her patients. We thank Dr. Bazzone for her dedication to our department and institution!