Robert Tepper, MD, PhD received his MD and PhD degrees and completed his general pediatric training at the University of Wisconsin, followed by subspecialty training in pediatric pulmonology at the University of Arizona. In 1983, he joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine at James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology.
Dr. Tepper’s research focuses on lung growth and development early in life under normal and pathologic conditions. His laboratory has developed infant lung function methodologies to assess airway (forced expiratory flows) and parenchymal (lung volumes and diffusion) function, enabling identification of early-life pulmonary pathophysiology and evaluation of early interventions. His work has included healthy full-term infants and infants at risk for or affected by asthma, cystic fibrosis, and preterm birth.
In randomized clinical trials, maternal vitamin C supplementation during pregnancy in smokers was associated with improved airway function in offspring from infancy through at least 5 years of age, with reduced wheeze mediated by improved airway physiology. Additional studies demonstrated that extended CPAP therapy in preterm infants enhanced airway and parenchymal lung growth that persisted beyond NICU discharge. Pulmonary physiologic phenotypes were also shown to better predict post-discharge respiratory morbidity than gestational age, sex, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia. More recent work has examined the effects of developmental hypoxia at high altitude on lung parenchymal growth, with potential therapeutic implications for infants born preterm.
Dr. Tepper is a member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and is currently affiliated with James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine.
