Dr. William J. Calhoun, MD

Expert Publications

• Comparison of fluticasone propionate-salmeterol combination therapy and montelukast in patients who are symptomatic on short-acting beta(2)-agonists alone.
• Increased nitric oxide production by airway cells of sensitized and challenged IL-10 knockout mice.
• Anti-leukotrienes for asthma.
• More inflammation than lung in emphysema.
• Regulation of IL-1beta -induced GM-CSF production in human airway smooth muscle cells by carbon monoxide.
• Nocturnal asthma.
• Low-dose carbon monoxide reduces airway hyperresponsiveness in mice.
• Asthma entities.
• Enhanced superoxide production by alveolar macrophages and air-space cells, airway inflammation, and alveolar macrophage density changes after segmental antigen bronchoprovocation in allergic subjects.
• Enhanced production of oxygen radicals in nocturnal asthma.
• Management of respiratory failure. The rising problems of asthma; mechanisms and management.
• Enhanced nitric oxide production associated with airway hyporesponsiveness in the absence of IL-10.
• Regarding "Differential control of T(H)1 versus T(H)2 cell responses by the combination of low-dose steroids with beta(2)-adrenergic agonists".
• Studies of the biogenic amine transporters. XI. Identification of a 1-[2-[bis(4-fluorophenyl)methoxy]ethyl]-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine (GBR12909) analog that allosterically modulates the serotonin transporter.
• Modulation of GM-CSF release by enantiomers of beta-agonists in human airway smooth muscle.

Media Releases

Get to know Pulmonologist Dr. William J. Calhoun, who serves patients in Texas.

Recognized as a top pulmonologist, Dr. Calhoun’s clinical interests include COPD, immunologic lung diseases, interstitial lung diseases, occupational lung diseases, asthma, including severe asthma, as well as allergic diseases of respiratory tract, eyes, and skin. He is in practice with UTMB Health Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Town Center in League City, Texas.

Named among the Best Doctors in America, he is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP), a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP), a Fellow of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (FAAAAI), and a Fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (FACAAI).

A 1979 graduate of the Penn State College of Medicine, Dr. Calhoun performed his residency at Penn State Hershey Medical Center in 1982. He then went on to complete his fellowship in pulmonary disease at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 1985, followed by an additional fellowship in allergy / immunology at the University of Wisconsin in 1992. He also holds a Certificate in Medical and Health Care Management from Rice University, which he obtained in 2005.

For 13 years, Dr. Calhoun led the Asthma Program at the University of Pittsburgh, an integrated program of clinical care, basic and translational research, and educational efforts. In 2005, he moved to the University of Texas Medical Branch as the Sealy and Smith Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine, Professor of Medicine with Tenure, and Division Director for the newly formed Allergy, Pulmonary, Immunology, Critical Care, and Sleep Division.  He now serves as a the Nelda C and JH Lutcher Stark Distinguished Chair, Professor & Vice Chair for Research within the Department of Internal Medicine, Divisions of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, and Allergy and Clinical Immunology at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

The clinical mission of the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine is to provide comprehensive diagnosis and management for a broad range of respiratory diseases, to offer outstanding clinical care for patients with respiratory disorders, and to serve as a resource to regional physicians who share in the care of patients with respiratory diseases. The Division offers broad-based expertise in respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; emphysema and chronic bronchitis), lung cancer, lung infections, pulmonary fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension. Diagnostic services include a comprehensive pulmonary function laboratory, including exercise capability, a modern and well-equipped suite for flexible bronchoscopy, and three sleep laboratories.

Committed to his specialty, Dr. Calhoun is a former permanent member of the NIH Infectious, Reproductive, Asthma and Pulmonary Conditions Study Section (IRAP) and serves ad hoc on several other study sections and review panels. He also serves on the American Lung Association study section for Career Investigator and Research Training grants and has been awarded numerous grants from the NIH and the American Lung Association. 

He is currently funded by the NIAID as Principal Investigator of the Viral Mucosal Reprogramming project site at UTMB. His research interests include the role of alveolar macrophage in asthma, cytokine regulation of airway inflammation in asthma, functional genomics in asthma, severe asthma, and glucocorticoid receptor structure and function in asthma. 

In practice for over four decades, Dr Calhoun is board-certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Pulmonology is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract. A pulmonologist is an internal medicine physician who specializes in preventing, diagnosing, and treating conditions and diseases that affect the lungs, bronchial tubes, and the respiratory system, including the nose, pharynx, and throat.

An expert in his field, Dr. Calhoun has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and is currently Section Editor of Current Allergy and Asthma Reports. He also serves as a journal reviewer for top tier journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the American Journal of Physiology, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Chest. He has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.

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