Associate Dean for Research
Dr. Arzu Ari, Ph.D., RRT, PT, CPFT, FAARC, FCCP
Dr. Arzu Ari is a Professor in the Department of Respiratory Care. She is a physical and respiratory therapist by training with 27 years of experience as a manager, clinician, educator, and researcher. After she graduated from the Department of Physical Therapy at Hacettepe University, Dr. Ari completed her master's degree in public health at Istanbul University. She received her second master's degree in respiratory therapy and a Ph.D. degree in educational policy and higher education administration from Georgia State University.
Dr. Ari's primary area of research is aerosol medicine, which is closely tied to major developments that have had a global impact on the delivery of aerosolized medications to patients with pulmonary diseases. Her research has led to significant contributions to novel methods of aerosol delivery to different patient populations and served as a foundation from which others are performing research with direct clinical applications.
Dr. Ari's interest in research has manifested in 85 peer-reviewed articles, 86 conference proceedings, and 3 clinical guidelines that were published in high-impact journals. She also authored 17 book chapters and 2 books. Dr. Ari is the first author of the book entitled "A Guide to Aerosol Delivery Devices for Respiratory Therapists, 2nd ed" which was published by the American Association for Respiratory Care in 2009. Dr. Ari gave more than 320 presentations at conferences organized by various professional organizations in the US, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, India, and Taiwan.
She has been recognized as an outstanding scholar in the field of aerosol medicine and received the Mitchell Baran Achievement Award for Clinical Excellence in Aerosol and Airway Clearance Therapies in 2018. Her research received the prestigious Monaghan/Trudell Award for Aerosol Technique Development from the American Respiratory Care Foundation three times. Dr. Ari received Texas State's Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship and the Specialty Practitioner of the Year Award in Education from the American Association for Respiratory Care.
Dr. Ari is the topic and guest editor of Pharmaceutics and the associate editor of the Canadian Journal for Respiratory Therapy. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Aerosol Medicine. Dr. Ari has served as the Governor of Turkey at the International Respiratory Care Council for 25 years and promotes the profession of respiratory care around the world. Dr. Ari has also served on numerous committees of the American College of Chest Physicians, American Respiratory Care Foundation, International Society for Aerosols in Medicine, American Association for Respiratory Care, and Turkish Respiratory Society. Dr. Ari is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians (FCCP), and the American Association for Respiratory Care (FAARC).