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Julio Perez Fontan, M.D.

Julio Perez Fontan, M.D.

Titles and Appointments

Professor Emeritus

Schools
Medical School
Departments
Pediatrics
  • Biography

    Dr. Julio Pérez Fontán joined UT Southwestern Medical Center on September 1, 2004. He had previously been the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Anesthesiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

    Dr. Pérez Fontán received his undergraduate and graduate degrees (both summa cum laude) from the University of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain, followed by residency training in pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and fellowship in pediatric critical care medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. He served in the faculty of the Department of Pediatrics and the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California in San Francisco until 1985, when he was recruited to the Department of Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine. In 1992, he was recruited as the founding Director of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. In 2001, he was appointed as the Alumni Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. Under his leadership, the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine achieved international recognition for the quality of its multidisciplinary programs and its strong emphasis on research.

    Before his current appointment as Chair of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Physician-in-Chief at Children’s Health, Dr. Pérez Fontán served as the UT Southwestern Associate Dean for Pediatric Services and Program Development and the Children’s Medical Center Executive Vice President, Medical Affairs, overseeing the coordination of clinical services, program growth and development, research, and medical education for the pediatric programs of both institutions until 2012.

    Dr. Pérez Fontán’s own research has been centered on factors that define the biomechanical interdependence between airways and the surrounding lung parenchyma. His laboratory studied the viscoelastic properties of the tissues involved, the manner in which vagal tone influences these properties during development, the complex organization of the neural network that controls vagal tone, and the role of nerve-released tachykinins in the genesis of airway inflammation. His work was funded continuously by NIH and other agencies and resulted in multiple publications and reviews in the medical literature. Dr. Pérez Fontán has served as a member of both the editorial Board of several professional publications and the national leadership panels of professional societies and other organizations.

  • Education
    Medical School
    Universidad Desantiago De Comp (1977)
  • Research Interest
    • Airway smooth muscle
    • Autonomic nervous system
    • Neurogenic inflammation
  • Publications
    Mechanical Dysfunction of the Respiratory System
    Pérez Fontán JJ, Steinberg JB 2011 Dec 534-549
    Mechanical Dysfunction of the Respiratory System
    Pérez Fontán JJ, Steinberg JB 2011 Apr 534-549
    Plasma proteins in health and disease: A scientific symposium to celebrate the career and accomplishments of Harvey R. Colten, M.D.
    Fontan JP, Dowton SB, Perlmutter D, Gitlin J, Cole FS Pediatric Research 2006 Aug 60 231-232
    Mechanical Dysfunction of the Respiratory System
    Pérez Fontán JJ 2006 543-556
    Mechanical Dysfunction of the Respiratory System
    Pérez Fontán JJ 2005 Jan 543-556
    Can Resuscitation Jeopardize Survival?
    Lister G, Pérez Fontán JJ New England Journal of Medicine 2004 Apr 350 1708-1709
    Bone marrow transplantation reveals an essential synergy between neuronal and hemopoietic cell neurokinin production in pulmonary inflammation
    Chavolla-Calderón M, Bayer MK, Pérez Fontán JJ Journal of Clinical Investigation 2003 Apr 111 973-980
    On lung nerves and neurogenic injury
    Pérez Fontán JJ Annals of Medicine 2002 34 226-240
    Labeling of vagal motoneurons and central afferents after injection of cholera toxin B into the airway lumen
    Fontán JJ, Velloff CR American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 2001 Jan 280 L152-L164
    Substance P and neurokinin-1 receptor expression by intrinsic airway neurons in the rat
    Fontán JJ, Cortright DN, Krause JE, Velloff CR, Karpitskyi VV, Carver TW, Shapiro SD, Mora BN American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 2000 Feb 278 L344-L355
  • Books

    Featured 

  • Honors & Awards
    • Robert L. Moore Chair in Pediatrics
      UT Southwestern Medical Center (2013)
    • Joel B. Steinberg, M.D. Chair in Pediatrics
      UT Southwestern Medical Center (2005-2012)
    • Alumni Endowed Professor of Pediatrics
      Washington University School of Medicine (2001-2004)
    • Teaching Award
      Yale University School of Medicine (1992)
    • San Nicolas Prize, Royal National Academy of Medicine, Spain
      Scholastic achievement in Medicine (1978)
    • Summa cum Laude, First in 1977 graduating class
      Medical School Graduation (1977)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Pediatric Society (1999)
    • American Physiological Society (1987)
    • American Thoracic Society (1986)
    • Society for Pediatric Research (1989)