Alan H. Jobe, MD, PhD (born 1946)
Pioneer of Surfactant Biology, Antenatal Steroids, and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
Alan Jobe was born and raised in Los Angeles. During his undergraduate years at Stanford he studied biology, then pursued a PhD in cell biology rather than going directly to medical school. Having obtained both his PhD and MD at the University of California, San Diego, he joined the faculty at Harbor-UCLA in 1977. He would spend the next twenty years there, ultimately becoming Director of the Perinatal Research Laboratories and the Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr. Professor of Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine.
His timing was fortunate. When Jobe began his work, no one had formally asked how much surfactant the lung contained, where it was synthesized, or how much was secreted — and this was precisely when treating babies with surfactant for respiratory distress syndrome was becoming a hot topic. He embarked on a highly productive series of studies using animal models, characterizing the surfactant components and their biological roles during early lung maturation. His studies played a key role in setting the stage for the introduction of exogenous surfactant therapy in the 1980s, and his work contributed directly to its FDA approval as a safe and effective treatment for RDS in premature infants.
In 1997 Jobe moved to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, drawn by its commitment to lung biology research and the presence of collaborator Jeff Whitsett. His second major contribution came through bronchopulmonary dysplasia. He developed novel concepts underlying BPD pathogenesis, leading to a surge of work by many laboratories that helped advance the field. His 2001 consensus paper with Eduardo Bancalari in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine — proposing a new severity-based definition of BPD grounded in the pathology of the surfactant era — is among the most cited papers in neonatal medicine.
His third domain was antenatal corticosteroids. Although using steroids to accelerate fetal lung maturity had been standard of care for decades, no one had formally studied how they work, how much is needed, or how potent they are. In a research collaboration with John Newnham at the University of Western Australia spanning more than two decades, Jobe systematically examined the pharmacology of betamethasone and dexamethasone in fetal sheep, establishing the evidence base for current dosing recommendations and raising important questions about the risks of fetal overexposure. He subsequently became a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, working to optimize antenatal steroid regimens for low-resource settings — recognizing that what works in Cincinnati may not work in Cape Town.
He served as chair of the NICHD Neonatal Research Network Steering Committee and chair of the NICHD Global Research Network, and was an associate editor of the Journal of Pediatrics for 18 years. His leadership roles included Secretary/Treasurer and President of the American Thoracic Society.
He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and received the Virginia Apgar Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Mary Ellen Avery National Research Award, the E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics, the Arvo Ylppö Medal from the Pediatric Academic Societies of Finland, and the Daniel Drake Medal — the highest honor of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. In 2024 he received the American Pediatric Society’s John Howland Award, the highest honor bestowed by that organization. He has authored 437 original peer-reviewed articles and 262 editorials, and remains one of the most highly cited clinician-scientists in pediatrics. He established the Alan H. Jobe, MD, PhD, Endowed Chair of Neonatology at Cincinnati Children’s from his own estate.
- “Alan Jobe: An Extraordinary Life and Exceptional Legacy” – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Last Updated on 03/28/26