Dr. Holliday brings a clinical and research focus on pulmonary disease, specifically in cystic fibrosis, to the School of Medicine and currently directs MU Health Care’s cystic fibrosis center. He has a broad basic science and clinical research background in pulmonary medicine with training ranging from airway pH studies and immunofluorescence staining on airway epithelial cell cultures and porcine animal models, to pilot clinical studies looking at the effects of alkalinization of the upper airways on the underlying microbiome. Dr. Holliday’s primary research interest is the effects of alkalinization on airway innate host defense and has presented his findings at multiple national conferences and published his research. Dr. Holliday recently presented three abstracts at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference about outcomes in patients at the University of Missouri adult Cystic Fibrosis center after starting Elexacaftor-Tezacaftor-Ivacaftor.

Since his initial training, Dr. Holliday has also found interest in the long-term effects of cystic fibrosis transmembrane receptor (CFTR) modulators and helped complete a five-year longitudinal study looking at the effects at one of the first modulators, Ivacaftor, on CT pulmonary imaging and pulmonary function testing outcomes. This interest continued at the University of Missouri, with a more recent project looking at the effects of the newest CFTR modulator, Trikafta, on respiratory bacterial cultures, pulmonary function testing and imaging. Connecting most projects to date is an underlying interest in the interaction between the innate immune system of the lungs and bacterial/viral pathogens. Through his multiple experiences he has developed the skills to oversee clinical translational projects and collaborated with other researchers internally and externally.

This includes  successfull collaborations with other researchers at the University of Iowa and University of Washington on previous projects including the THAM nasal pilot study and long-term effects of Ivacaftor study. Dr. Holliday is currently collaborating within the University of Missouri campus with Dr. Robert Thomen in the department of Radiology looking at MRI xenon gas ventilation scans in patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Dr. Adam Schrum in the department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology on the effects of inhaled dornase alfa in patients with severe COVID-19.