Department of Medicine
Faculty Profiles by Division

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

Faculty Profiles
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photo Merritt L. Fajt, MD

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Assistant Professor of Medicine

Email: fajtml@upmc.edu

Phone: 412-864-3199
Contact
Office: UPMC Montefiore Hospital, NW628
3459 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 
Phone: 412-864-3199
Fax: 412-605-1999
E-mail: fajtml@upmc.edu
Administrative Assistant:
Judy Nauman
Email: naumanja@upmc.edu
Phone: 412-864-3199
Fax: 412-692-2260
Education and Training
Education
BS, Biology, Duke University, 2000
MD, Temple University, 2004
Training
Residency, Internal Medicine, Penn State University-Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, 2007
Fellow, Allergy-Immunology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 2010
Post-doctoral Scholar, PACCM, 2012
Research Interest
Dr. Fajt’s research over the last several years has focused on the pathobiologic mechanisms of asthma and severe asthma, particularly on determining the role of the tissue environment, specifically Type-2 immunity and the epithelium, on mast cells and their phenotypes. Dr. Fajt’s interest in researching the mechanisms underlying severe asthma began early during her fellowship through the support of both an institutional T32 and her own F32 Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award studying mast cells in severe asthma. She has published several manuscripts and presented her research at national meetings. Additionally, she has authored review articles and book chapters on asthma therapies and phenotypes. She has also published her clinical research work on vocal cord dysfunction, drug allergies and environmental allergies.
Clinical Interest
Dr. Fajt’s clinical interests include caring for patients with asthma, environmental, food or drug allergies and immunologic disorders. She sees patients during outpatient allergy-immunology clinic at the Comprehensive Lung Center and inpatient consults.
Publications
For my complete bibliography, Click Here.
Selected Publications:
Fajt ML, Birnie KM, Trejo Bittar HE, Petrov AA. Co-existence of vocal cord dysfunction with pulmonary conditions other than asthma: A case series. Respir Med Case Rep. 2018; Aug 3;25: 104-108.
Fajt ML, Rosenberg SL, Yecies E, Traister RS, Petrov AA. A 10-year experience of a novel and safe modified environmental rush immunotherapy protocol. Allergy Asthma Proc. 2017; Jul 1;38(4): 309-316.
Montandon, SV, Fajt, ML, Petrov, AA. A Safe and Novel Desensitization Protocol with Ferric Carboxymaltose to Treat Iron Deficiency Anemia. Curr Drug Saf. 2016; 11(2): 145-8.
Fajt, ML, Wenzel, SE. Asthma phenotypes and the use of biologic medications in asthma and allergic disease: the next steps toward personalized care. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015; Feb;135(2): 299-310.
Fajt, ML, Petrov, AA. Desensitization protocol for rituximab-induced serum sickness. Curr Drug Saf. 2014; 9(3): 240-2.
Traister, RS, Fajt, ML, Landsittel, D, Petrov, AA. A novel scoring system to distinguish vocal cord dysfunction from asthma. Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2014; Jan-Feb;2(1): 65-9.
Fajt, ML, Wenzel, SE. Mast cells, their subtypes, and relation to asthma phenotypes. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2013; Dec;10 Suppl: S158-64.
Fajt, ML, Gelhaus, SL, Freeman, B, Uvalle, CE, Trudeau, JB, Holguin, F, Wenzel, SE. Prostaglandin D2 pathway upregulation: relation to asthma severity, control, and TH2 inflammation. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. 2013; 131(6): 1504-12.
Fajt, ML, Petrov, AA. Outpatient aspirin desensitization for patients with aspirin hypersensitivity and cardiac disease. Crit Pathw Cardiol. 2011; Mar;10(1): 17-21.
Balzar, S, Fajt, ML, Comhair, SA, Erzurum, SC, Bleecker, E, Busse, WW, Castro, M, Gaston, B, Israel, E, Schwarts, LB, Curran-Everett, D, Moore, CG, Wenzel, SE. Mast cell phenotype, location, and activation in severe asthma. Data from the Severe Asthma Research Program. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011; Feb 1;183(3): 299-309.

Division Websites

Cardiology

Endocrinology and Metabolism

Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

General Internal Medicine

Geriatric Medicine
Hematology/Oncology

Infectious Diseases

Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine

Renal-Electrolyte

Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology

Contact

Department of Medicine
1218 Scaife Hall
3550 Terrace Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Email:  chairoff@pitt.edu
Phone:  412-648-9636
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