Marc Rothenberg, MD, PhD
Director, Division of Allergy and Immunology
Passionately Curious
Dr. Rothenberg is director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Cincinnati Children's and tenured professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s within the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He is the Founder and Director of the Cincinnati Center for Eosinophilic Disorders (CCED) and the Principal Investigator of the Consortium of Gastrointestinal Eosinophilic Disease Researchers (CEGIR), part of the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network of the National Institutes of Health. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Rothenberg graduated summa cum laude with highest honors in chemistry and biochemistry from Brandeis University. He then completed the MD/PhD program at Harvard Medical School under Dr. Frank Austen, conducting studies on eosinophil hematopoiesis, and he developed the first culture system for human eosinophils. After completing residency at Children’s Hospital, Boston, Rothenberg completed a fellowship in allergy/immunology and hematology at Children’s Hospital. Rothenberg did post-doctorate training in genetics with Dr. Philip Leder, Harvard Medical School, where he cloned the eotaxin chemokine. After being faculty at Harvard Medical School for one year, he came to the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's, where he has helped build a top program in research and sees patients suffering from allergic and immunologic diseases from around the world as part of the CCED. His division is a leader in allergy and immunology.
Rothenberg’s research is focused on molecular analysis of allergic inflammation, primarily on the molecular pathogenesis of eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders. His laboratory takes a multi-disciplinary approach including the development of preclinical murine models, genetics, genomics, molecular immunology, and biochemistry. Rothenberg’s research has been published in over 500 peer-reviewed articles and has contributed to the development of a new class of drugs based on targeting eosinophils, the first of which (anti-IL-5) has been approved by the FDA for eosinophilic asthma. His research has uncovered the cellular, molecular and genetic bases for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), leading to a molecular diagnostic test and the first FDA-approved drug for EoE.
Dr. Rothenberg’s awards include the 2007 E Mead Johnson Award from the Society of Pediatric Research, 2010 National Institutes of Health MERIT Award, and being an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Medicine, and American Society for Clinical Investigation. He has served on review panels for journals/grant agencies including National Institutes of Health (NIH), Burroughs Trust, and Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom. He served for four years on the Advisory Council of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, advising Dr. Anthony Fauci. He has been Associate Editor of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology since 2004. He is the Director and Founder of the Consortium of Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Researchers (CEGIR), supported by the Rare Disease Clinical Research Network of the NIH. His research has been supported by sources including the NIH, Human Frontier Science Program Organization, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Dana Foundation, US-Israel Binational Fund, Department of Defense, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and CURED Foundation.
Rothenberg has trained a myriad of investigators, serving as the Program Director and/or Principal Investigator of several training grants, including an NIAID T32, the Institutional Children’s Health Pediatric Scientist Training Grant (K12) and the KL2 Training Component of Cincinnati Children’s CTSA.
marc.rothenberg@cchmc.org