2013
The I.M. Rosenzweig Junior Investigator Award Winners
The I.M. Rosenzweig Junior Investigator Award was established to encourage researchers to maintain and enhance their interest in PF research during the early stages of their academic career.
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Kristen Tropea Leeman, MD
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital
Proposal Title: “Characterization of Endogenous Lung Stem Cells in a Pulmonary Fibrosis Model”
Dr. Kristen Leeman is a neonatologist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School. She attended University of Virginia Medical School, completed her pediatrics residency at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and trained at the Harvard Neonatal Perinatal Fellowship Program where she served as a Chief Fellow. She currently conducts her research under the mentorship of Dr. Carla Kim at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
Her research interests include examining the role of endogenous lung stem cells in lung injury and repair. Specifically, she has begun to focus on determining the effects of fibrosis on lung stem cell autonomous functions and examining the effects of mesenchymal stromal cell treatment on lung stem cell properties in pulmonary fibrosis.
She hopes her work utilizing lung stem cell biology to gain insight into pulmonary disease mechanisms will lead to novel therapeutic approaches. Dr. Leeman enjoys spending time with her husband, traveling, and painting.
The Albert Rose Established Investigator Award Winners
Created to allow established investigators to explore novel, innovative areas of research, the Albert Rose Established Investigator Award provides critical support to the development of new projects, and enables the investigator to pursue additional funding through the National Institutes of Health or other agencies. Two $50,000 grants are awarded per annual cycle, disbursed over a two-year period.
Michael F. Beers, MD
Most recently, his laboratory, which is funded by both the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs has focused on understanding the contribution of the alveolar epithelia to the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. Using a variety of models including primary lung epithelial cells, mammalian cell lines, Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly), transgenic mice, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients with mutations in two surfactant genes (SP-C and ABCA3), his lab has identified important roles for endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, intrinsic apoptosis, and cellular proteostasis (autophagy and ER associated degradation) in the disease process. In addition to his research and clinical activities, Dr. Beers serves as Associate Director for Basic and Translational Pulmonary Research Training at the University and is past Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.