Dr. Alejandro Pezzulo, Fellow in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, has won a prestigious Parker B. Francis (PBF) Fellowship in Pulmonary Research. Under the guidance of a formally identified mentor—in this case, Division Director Dr. Joe Zabner—Dr. Pezzulo will use this 3-year, $156,000 award to pursue research into the role of two enzymes, HDAC6 and HSP90, in airway goblet cell metaplasia and its resultant impact on cystic fibrosis.

For more than 40 years, the PBF Fellowship has provided career development support to more than 840 researchers and scientists working in areas related to lung disease. Recipients of the PBF Fellowship later go on to become some of the most prominent investigators in pulmonary medicine, improving patient care and advancing the field’s understanding of both the causes of and treatments for some of the most perplexing lung diseases.

Congratulations on this impressive award, Dr. Pezzulo!

(Related: Dr. Pezzulo is a member of another research team that recently won one of four Convergence Seed Grants from the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute.)