Christopher Evans

Dr. Evans is a Professor of Medicine and Immunology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine where he is also Associate Head of research in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care. After earning a bachelor of science in biology at Loyola College in Maryland in 1996, he went to the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health where he received his PhD in 2001. Dr. Evans’ research has focused on lung physiology and airway epithelial cell biology starting with his graduate training, and continuing during postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

For over a decade, the Evans laboratory has investigated how mucins perform their host protective functions and how these are dysregulated in lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, lung cancer, and asthma. His laboratory has been at the forefront of research exploring the significance and mechanisms of airway mucin production through the use of genetically engineered mouse models. Current efforts seek to determine how the functions of two airway mucins MUC5AC and MUC5B are mediated by their differential expression, polymerization, and glycosylation.

Dr. Evans’ work has been accomplished through generous U.S. federal support from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Veterans Affairs Administration, as well as from organizations including the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.