About Morris Ling, MD
I completed Allergy and Immunology fellowship training at the Massachusetts General Hospital after residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago and obtaining my medical doctorate from the University of Maryland. Prior to this, I obtained my BA with honors from Johns Hopkins University and also researched cancer vaccine development at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Currently, my basic and translational research focuses on innate and T cell immune responses in allergic diseases, particularly asthma. I have also helped identify a novel chemokine ligand-receptor interaction that is important in allergic diseases, the results of which are published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. My research has been supported by the NIH, including the T32 as a mentored post-doctoral fellow, the F32 as a principal investigator, and the AADCRC U19 as a scientist. I have also published in Science Translational Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and the Journal of Immunology and have received recognition within the field with a American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology Mechanisms of Asthma and Allergic Inflammation Featured Poster. I am also an attending physician at MGH Allergy Associates and the MGH Clinical Immunology Laboratory.
Clinical Interests:
- Angioedema
- Asthma
- Contact dermatitis (allergic)
- Drug hypersensitivity
- Eczema (atopic dermatitis)
- Eosinophilic disorders
- Food allergy
- Food sensitivity
- Immunodeficiency
- Immunology
- Rhinosinusitis
- Urticaria
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Mass General Medicine: Allergy & Clinical Immunology Unit
55 Fruit St.
Yawkey 4B
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-3850
Allergy Associates at Mass General Waltham
52 Second Ave.
Suite 2600
Waltham, MA 02451
Phone: 781-487-3838
Medical Education
- MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Residency, University of Chicago Medical Center
- Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Allergy and Immunology, American Board of Allergy and Immunology
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid RI
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
My current research is focused on two main areas of interest: 1) the role of chemokines in allergic diseases and 2) allergen-specific T cell immune responses in human asthma. Our lab has identified CCR8 as a human CCL18 receptor, which may have important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of allergic/eosinophilic diseases. I plan to develop novel reporter mouse models to investigate the role of this CCR8 and its chemokine ligands in allergic diseases, including asthma and atopic dermatitis. I am also investigating and characterizing allergen-specific T cell immune responses, activation/memory markers, cytokine release, and gene expression in human asthma, with a goal toward elucidating the differences between allergic asthmatics and allergic nonasthmatics, which may help reveal the mechanisms that underlie the immunopathogenesis of asthma.
Publications
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Select Publications:
- Cho JL*, Ling MF* (contributed equally), et al. Allergic asthma is distinguished by sensitivity of allergen-specific CD4+ T cells and airway structural cells to type 2 inflammation. Science Translational Medicine, 2016;8:359ra132.
- Islam S*, Ling MF* (*contributed equally), Leung J, Shreffler WG, Luster AD. Identification of human CCR8 as a CCL18 receptor. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2013;210:1889-98.
- Wong JT, Ling M, Patil, S, Banerji A, Long A. Oxaliplatin Hypersensitivity: Evaluation, Implications of Skin Testing, and Desensitization. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, 2014;2:40-5
- Patil, SU, Long AA, Ling M, et al. A protocol for risk stratification of patients with carboplatin-induced hypersensitivity reactions. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2012;129:443-447.
- Kim TW, Hung CF, Ling M, Juang J, He L, Hardwick JM, Kumar S, Wu TC. Enhancing DNA vaccine potency by coadministration of DNA encoding antiapoptotic proteins. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2003;112:109-17.
- Cheng WF, Hung CF, Chai CY, Hsu KF, He L, Ling M, Wu TC. Tumor-specific immunity and antiangiogenesis generated by a DNA vaccine encoding calreticulin linked to a tumor antigen. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2001;108:669-78.
- Wang TL, Ling M, et al. Intramuscular administration of E7-transfected dendritic cells generates the most potent E7-specific anti-tumor immunity. Gene Therapy, 2000;7:726-33.