Tag: Recently Deceased

In Memoriam: Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D., renowned immunologist and longtime Chair of Microbiology

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DALLAS – Feb. 17, 2024 – Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, who discovered how antibodies are made and developed a technique that led to the early detection of cancer cells, died Feb. 15. He was 96.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Uhr was recruited to UT Southwestern in 1972 by Donald Seldin, M.D., then Chairman of Internal Medicine, to be Chair and Professor of Microbiology, a department that Dr. Uhr built into one of the best in the world. He was a pioneer in the investigation of dormant cancer cells and circulating tumor cells and played a key role in the science behind the development of RhoGam, a medicine that prevents Rh incompatibility from developing during pregnancy.

“Under Dr. Uhr’s leadership, the Department of Microbiology gained an international reputation in immunology research, and he was instrumental in recruiting some of the finest scientists in the country to UT Southwestern,” said W. P. Andrew Lee, M.D., Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Provost, and Dean, UT Southwestern Medical School and holder of the Atticus James Gill, M.D. Chair in Medical Science. “His legacy of discovery and commitment to mentoring the next generation of researchers will live on in the halls and labs of our institution.”

Much of Dr. Uhr’s research focused on early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, a disease that took the lives of both of his parents. His efforts led to a commercialized test to detect circulating tumor cells in the human bloodstream that was routinely used in clinical laboratories. The Cleveland Clinic ranked the technology as the top medical innovation for 2009.

His later work involved combining that knowledge with advanced imaging to more precisely identify cancer cells.

“Jonathan Uhr was a force at UT Southwestern. He hired a number of outstanding microbiologists and immunologists and built a department from scratch,” said Lora Hooper, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of Immunology, Professor of Microbiology and in the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, and a Nancy Cain and Jeffrey A. Marcus Scholar in Medical Research, in Honor of Dr. Bill S. Vowell. “In his own research, he made far-reaching contributions to the understanding of immunity and cancer cells. I am honored to hold the Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Immunology and hope to honor Jon’s legacy by continuing to grow and enhance the immunology research community here at UT Southwestern.”

Dr. Uhr served as President of the American Association of Immunologists from 1983-1984. He also was a member of the Scientific Review Board for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1980-1989; a member of the U.S.-Japan Panel of the Cooperative Program in Immunology from 1981-1986; a member of the Scripps Clinic Scientific Review board from 1983-1987; and a member of the Howard Hughes Medical Advisory Board from 1993-1997.

In 1997, he stepped down as Chair of Microbiology to become Professor at UTSW’s Cancer Immunobiology Center, where his research continued. He was named Professor Emeritus in October 2010.

“Dr. Uhr’s legacy and history of impactful science, service, and leadership will live on, particularly in the Department of Microbiology at UT Southwestern,” said Julie Pfeiffer, Ph.D., Interim Chair and Professor of Microbiology.

He was honored with the Abbott-American Society for Microbiology Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.

Born in New York, Dr. Uhr grew up in New Jersey. He said he was inspired to pursue a career in medicine and research by his father, who was a pediatrician. At age 17, he began a 16-month stint in the U.S. Navy before heading to college. He earned his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1948 and his medical degree in 1952 from New York University (NYU) School of Medicine. He completed residencies in immunology and internal medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and fellowships in immunology at the Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and NYU School of Medicine.

Before joining UT Southwestern, Dr. Uhr was Director of the Irvington House Institute for Rheumatic Fever and Allied Diseases and Professor of Internal Medicine at NYU Medical School.

During his career, Dr. Uhr mentored countless researchers and looked for ways to encourage younger generations to take an interest in science. He was an avid tennis player. He also loved traveling and was a fan of country and classical music as well as the Dallas Cowboys. After retiring, he signed up for tap dancing lessons.

In a 2013 oral history project for The American Association of Immunologists, Dr. Uhr told the interviewer that he was proud of all he had accomplished but that he made sure to keep his life in balance. “I’ve always had a lot of fun,” he said. “You can work hard and still have fun if you’re adventuresome, and I’ve always been adventuresome.”

He is survived by his wife, Ginger Uhr, formerly Ginger Lanclos of Port Arthur, Texas; two daughters, Sarita Uhr and Jacqueline Guise; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, Feb. 18, in Birmingham, Michigan. The service will be streamed live by The Ira Kaufman Chapel.

Those who wish to further honor Dr. Uhr may make a contribution to UT Southwestern Medical Center – Texas, Office of Development & Alumni Relations, and request funds be dedicated in memory of the Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Immunology.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,100 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 120,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5 million outpatient visits a year.

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February 17, 2024
Donlin Long, First Head of Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Neurosurgery Department and Pain Treatment Pioneer, Dies at 89

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Newswise — Donlin M. Long, founding chair of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Department of Neurosurgery and a pioneer in the treatment of chronic pain, died Sept. 19. He was 89.

Highly regarded for his neurosurgical skills, extensive impact on pain reduction research and neurological studies and mentorship of medical students, residents and fellows, Long is credited with establishing the Department of Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins in 1973, which until then had been a division of the Department of Surgery.

“Don Long was a true renaissance man and an innovative, master neurosurgeon who nurtured generations of neurosurgical leaders who have transformed our field,” said Henry Brem, M.D., the Harvey Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Dr. Long was compassionate and a great role model.”

When Long joined Johns Hopkins, he organized, what were called at the time, “centers of expertise,” providing patients with one-stop access to specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, orthopaedics and other specialties.

Long also popularized the concept of competency-based training for neurosurgeons. By the time he stepped down as department director in August of 2000, the full-time neurosurgical faculty had more than doubled, the surgical caseload had increased substantially, rising to some 3,500 annually at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, seven centers of expertise had been created, bringing together experts on everything from chronic pain and vascular diseases to skull base surgery and spinal diseases, and research funding had grown exponentially to $5.5 million a year.

Descended from New England Quakers, Long was born on April 14, 1934, in Rolla, Missouri. His father was a chemist for the state health department and his mother was a schoolteacher. The family soon moved to Jefferson City. He obtained his undergraduate degree in 1955 and his medical degree in 1959 from the University of Missouri.

As an intern at the University of Minnesota, Long originally planned to become a cardiac surgeon, but changed to neurosurgery after watching pioneer neurosurgeon Lyle French operate.

As a resident at Minnesota, Long and fellow resident Joseph Galicich did the research that led to the now-universal use of steroids to reduce postoperative brain swelling. While earning his 1964 doctorate in neuroanatomy, he also did landmark research on the biological structure of the blood vessels in the brain.

Using a then-new device, the electron microscope, he was able to make the first photographs of the cells that form the inner lining of the brain’s blood vessels, providing images that revealed why brain swelling led to a breakdown of what is known as the blood/brain barrier. This is a special system of cells that form the lining of the brain’s tiniest blood vessels and separate the brain from the central nervous system, protecting it from harmful substances in the bloodstream.

Once he came to Johns Hopkins, Long continued his groundbreaking research into chronic pain, where he designed the first external transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator — now universally known simply as TENS — for stimulating peripheral nerves to ease pain.

In 1981, he and Johns Hopkins colleagues announced the invention of the first battery-powered, rechargeable, implantable electronic stimulator. It became a standard tool in pain management around the world.

In addition, Long collaborated with colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to invent an implantable medication pump, now a standard device used for the administration of insulin in the treatment of patients with diabetes.

Long is survived by his wife of 64 years, Harriett Page Long; three children, Dr. Kimberley Page Riley and her spouse Dr. Lee Hunter Riley, III, Elisabeth Merchant Long, and David Bradford Long and his spouse Dr. Elizabeth Selvin; and four grandchildren, Lauren Palmer Riley, Thomas Hunter Riley, Benjamin Logan Selvin Long and Eli Duncan Selvin Long.

Read the full obituary for Donlin M. Long at the Johns Hopkins Department of Neurosurgery website: In Memoriam: Donlin M. Long | Johns Hopkins Neurology and Neurosurgery

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September 26, 2023
Albert Bendelac, pathologist and former chair of the University of Chicago Committee on Immunology, 1956-2023

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Newswise — Albert Bendelac, MD, PhD, the A.N. Pritzker Distinguished Service Professor of Pathology at the University of Chicago, died at his home on August 23, 2023, surrounded by family. He had just celebrated his 67th birthday.

Known for his passion for immunology, his mentorship of students and young faculty, and his broad scientific thinking, Bendelac joined the faculty in 2002 as an established investigator. His research had already demonstrated that CD4 and CD8 T cells were required for the development of type-1 diabetes and had described a novel subset of T cells that expressed Natural Killer cell antigens (NKT cells), discovering CD1d as their restricting element.

“There is little doubt that he remained the leader in the field of NKT cell biology,” said Vinay Kumar, MBBS, MD, the Lowell T Coggeshall Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Chair Emeritus.

Bendelac’s seminal discovery came in 1995 when he first described NKT cells in the journal Science, and later in 2005, finding that lysosomal glycosphingolipid ceramide is the natural ligand for NKT cells. More largely, he explored the fundamental question of thymic selection of innate lymphocytes, and in 2008 identified the transcription factor PLZF as the master regulator of NKT, MAIT, and ILC development. In his final years of research, he expanded his work to mucosal IgA B cells. He published more than 100 papers, several of which are cited more than 1,000 times.

Colleagues from across the country remembered Bendelac’s rigorous approach and contributions to the field.

Marco Colonna, the Robert Rock Belliveau Professor of Pathology and Immunology at Washington University, said, “I always admired Albert for his genius, unwavering experimental rigor, and fearless approach to exploring new frontiers in immunology. His upfront and uncompromising nature made him a true and authentic person.”

Jason Cyster, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Howard Hughes Investigator at the University of California San Francisco, said, “I was always inspired by the quality of his work. His insights into innate lymphocytes were truly ahead of their time.” And Marc Jenkins, the Regents Professor and Director of the Center for Immunology at the University of Minnesota, said simply, “Albert made his mark on the world.”

In addition to his groundbreaking research on lymphocyte biology, Bendelac made immeasurable contributions toward establishing UChicago’s Committee on Immunology (COI) as a home of leading-edge, multi-disciplinary research and a premiere training program for young scientists.

Colleagues cite his Advanced Immunology course, which was widely regarded by many trainees as the most demanding and rewarding course of their graduate tenure, and which set the standard for other COI instructors. His Immunobiology course for undergraduate students, the first step in the Concentration on Immunology, was very popular and uniformly highly rated.

Daria Esterhazy, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pathology, was recruited by Bendelac to UChicago in 2018 as part of his successful efforts to recruit junior faculty in immunology. “As of 2019, he shared an entire floor of a building unit with me and the other assistant professor recruits, Dr. Andrew Koh and Dr. David Zemmour. It was Dr. Bendelac’s initiative to install such an immunology floor and move himself from another space for the sake of fostering a new generation of independent investigators,” she said.

“He was incredibly invested in and supportive of the next generation of immunologists, from undergraduate teaching, to conceiving of the graduate teaching curriculum in immunology, to recruiting multiple junior faculty members and helping them thrive.”

The former chair of the COI, Bendelac received multiple awards throughout his career, including the Quantrell Teaching Award for Excellence in undergraduate teaching in 2019. At the time of the award, he explained that immunology is an incredibly complex field, and the amount of information students have to process can be daunting. Bendelac said the key to keeping undergraduates engaged as he introduces them to the field is to convey this complexity without overwhelming them with details.

“You don’t want to turn them off. You want to excite them and inspire them,” he said. “My mission is to cover all the key aspects of the field but not go into excruciating detail, like knowing the music but not necessarily all the words.”

It was an award that his wife, Bana Jabri, MD, PhD, the Sarah and Harold Lincoln Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and current Chair of the Committee on Immunology, also won in 2017. Colleagues described the two as a formidable team, working in different areas of immunology and together helping establish UChicago as a center of excellence in immunology.

“Albert had a vision of scientific excellence that was deeply infectious – he challenged and inspired others to dig deeper both conceptually and technically,” said Peter Savage, PhD, Associate Professor of Pathology. “He had high expectations of his colleagues and trainees and led by example. I never saw him flinch or hesitate to tackle a problem, or to put in the hard work necessary to do so. Ultimately, this made an indelible impression that was inspiring to many of us.”

Bendelac earned his MD from University Paris VI in 1985, and his PhD in immunology from University Paris VII in 1992. From 1994-2002, he was an associate and then assistant (tenured) professor of molecular biology at Princeton University, and before that was a visiting fellow and then visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

Outside the lab, he enjoyed morning runs with his border collies along Lake Michigan, movies (particularly European cinema), literature, good food and wine, and he was an excellent cook.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by their children, Aude, Raphaëlle, and Julien.

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September 8, 2023
Barry Arnason, first Chair of Neurology at UChicago, 1933-2023

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Newswise — Barry Arnason, MD, the founding Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago, died on July 17, 2023. He was 89 years old.

Arnason joined the faculty at UChicago in 1976 and led the department until 1996, establishing it as a nationally prominent program for both research and patient care. As a physician-scientist, he is considered to be one of the founders of the field of neuro-immunology, which focuses on understanding how the immune system and the nervous system communicate with each other and maintain the body’s overall health.

Arnason was an author on more than 400 scientific papers on the underlying causes of autoimmunity, neurological diseases, and the development of therapeutic interventions. He was an investigator on more than 70 clinical trials, including studies that led to the approval of interferon-β1b (Betaseron) as the first therapy for relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). He played a pivotal role in discovering how dysfunctional T cells affect the development of multiple sclerosis, which led him to breakthrough studies that influenced drug management therapies, ultimately affecting how people with MS manage the disease. He also studied what happens—or does not happen—during MS attacks to further advance therapies that may not involve T cells at all. He earned numerous prizes over his long career, including the prestigious John Dystel Prize in MS Research from the American Academic of Neurology and the National MS Society (2014) and election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 1974.

Former colleagues and trainees remember Arnason as a polymath who spoke multiple languages, lectured on six different continents, and knew incredible amounts of history and culture in addition to his professional work. He was gifted at making connections and offering insights for colleagues, even outside his field of expertise, and made an indelible impact on their work.

“He read over everyone’s grant proposals and added incredibly insightful comments, no matter what the topic,” said Anthony Reder, MD, Professor of Neurology, who joined the department under Arnason in 1982. “I would be working on a proposal about MS and no one else I talked to could add content; but then I’d talk to Barry and he would double what I had done. He was so good at connecting ideas.”

Arnason was a mentor for scores of clinicians, scientists, residents, and fellows, so numerous that a former trainee of his has presided at the Department of Neurology’s annual Arnason Resident Research Symposium for the past 20 years. Jack Antel, MD, Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University in Montreal, was part of the first cohort of faculty Arnason recruited to UChicago, working with him for 10 years. He called Arnason a true original thinker, equally capable at patient care, clinical research, and basic investigations in animal model systems, who also fostered a collaborative atmosphere in the department.

“If you had something to say, his door was always open,” Antel said. “He treated the faculty like one big family. We were a very cohesive group, like a series of atoms working together as a molecule. He pushed everyone, but he shared his ideas and wanted everyone to do well.”

Born and raised in Canada, Arnason graduated from University of Manitoba Medical School before going to Massachusetts General Hospital in 1958 to complete his neurologic training and a fellowship in the laboratory of Byron Waksman. He served on the faculty at Harvard Medical School until he was recruited to UChicago. Following his tenure as Department Chair, he remained on the faculty until he retired in 2020, and actively continued MS immunology research until his death.

Arnason was predeceased by his beloved wife Joan, who was a pillar of the university and Hyde Park community and actively helped young people. They are survived by their children Stephen, Jon, and Eva.

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July 28, 2023
George Crabtree, energy trailblazer remembered as a “great listener” and “boundless explorer”, dead at 78

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Newswise — Distinguished researcher led Argonne’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research and made pivotal discoveries in high-temperature superconductors.

George Crabtree, widely recognized and admired as a brilliant, passionate materials scientist and champion of superconducting materials and better batteries, died Jan. 23. He was 78.

As the director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) and a preeminent proponent of decarbonization, Crabtree reached the pinnacle of a career that spanned parts of seven decades at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory and that advanced a number of different disciplines and inspired colleagues and friends.

“I never could have imagined when I first came to Argonne as an undergraduate student that one day I would be directing a big energy storage hub,” Crabtree said recently. “That was the farthest thing from my mind. Now I consider that to be one of my best experiences.”

“As a scientist and a leader, George worked with true integrity and exemplified Argonne’s mission of engaging with some of the biggest challenges facing humanity,” said Argonne Director Paul Kearns. “His interest in science and genuine concern for others resulted in a leadership style that was empowering and motivating to generations of colleagues. George had the exceptional ability to bring people together to achieve impactful science for our country.”

George Crabtree was born on Nov. 28, 1944, in Little Rock, Arkansas, and moved with his family to Illinois when he was 2.

As a boy, Crabtree was “fascinated by the natural world and sought to understand it in all of its complexity,” said JCESR research integration leader Lynn Trahey, whom Crabtree mentored for the past ten years. “He told me that when he was young, he was just as interested in biology as physics — he was a boundless explorer.”

Crabtree first joined Argonne as an intern in 1964 while a college student at Northwestern University. He was hired full-time in 1969 while pursuing his Ph.D. in condensed matter physics at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he took night classes while working.

In the first part of his career in the last decades of the 20^th century, Crabtree’s work focused on the behavior of superconducting materials, in particular their behavior in high magnetic fields. At the time, these materials were mysterious and not well understood, and their mystique held appeal for Crabtree. “For me, it was always a curiosity question,” he told the MRS Bulletin.

Crabtree helped pioneer early research into high-temperature superconductors, which were discovered in 1986. In them, he discovered new phases of superconducting vortex matter. “The properties of vortices are important because they are responsible for all the electromagnetic behavior in high-temperature superconductors that could eventually make them useful for applications,” said Argonne materials scientist Ulrich Welp

“George was a great leader because he had high standards; he elevated everyone around him because he really set an example for everyone else,” said Argonne materials scientist Wai-Kwong Kwok.

“His leadership style was full of kindness and curiosity,” Trahey said. “He wanted to learn and explore and also have a positive impact on society — he was unlimited in what he wanted to learn if it could help him communicate challenges and inspire people.”

Kwok recalled camping trips that Crabtree would organize for the other scientists in Argonne’s materials science division and their families. “He’d be the one up before everyone else making breakfast by the campfire,” he said. “In everything, he was truly an endearing person; he cared about more than just work, and his optimism and his hope would just rub off on you.”

Crabtree’s work on superconductors gained him recognition as a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. At Argonne, he was named a Distinguished Fellow. In 2003, Crabtree won the second ever Kammerlingh Onnes Prize, an international award given to scientists doing work in superconductivity.

“George was always a great listener, he would listen to everyone’s input and come up with a solution everyone could agree upon,” Kwok said. “There would always be something for everyone.”

In 2012, Crabtree switched gears professionally when he was named director of JCESR. “George was educating himself on battery science along with the postdocs and graduate students,” Trahey said. “He was never afraid to ask a question, and he treated 19-year-old students and heads of state with equal respect.”

As director of JCESR, Crabtree oversaw experiments on a wide range of beyond lithium-ion battery chemistries, including redox flow batteries and multivalent batteries. “In the later stage of his career, George was deeply passionate about fighting climate change, and used all his skills to encourage conversations and solutions,” Trahey said.

“George was a leader in many Basic Energy Science (BES) advisory committee studies and BES workshops. He helped to identify priority research directions for basic science from grand challenges for discovery research to foundations for energy technologies. These reports have literally shaped the BES strategic planning and portfolio for the past decade,” said Harriet Kung, deputy director for Science Programs for DOE’s Office of Science. “He was a true renaissance scientist — impacting many disciplines across energy and condensed matter physics. He will be greatly missed by the DOE community.”

In addition to his work in JCESR, Crabtree also served as co-chair of Argonne’s Action Collaborative, a group of researchers and administrators dedicated to eradicating sexual harassment in the workplace. “George cared about making work and life better, more inclusive and more fair for everyone,” Trahey said. “He was someone who believed in you and inspired you to believe in yourself.”

Crabtree is survived by his wife Barbara, a stepson and three grandchildren.

The Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, is a major partnership that integrates researchers from many disciplines to overcome critical scientific and technical barriers and create new breakthrough energy storage technology. Led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, partners include national leaders in science and engineering from academia, the private sector, and national laboratories. Their combined expertise spans the full range of the technology-development pipeline from basic research to prototype development to product engineering to market delivery.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.

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January 27, 2023
Pulmonary Fibrosis Claims Life of R&B Singer B. Smyth

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Newswise — (November 18, 2022) — B. Smyth, 28, died on Nov. 17, 2022, after a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis, according to an Instagram post featuring his brother Denzil. The R&B singer, whose real name was Brandon Smith, recently released a single from his ICU bed.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive, debilitating disease that causes scarring in the lungs and does not presently have a cure. Though largely unknown, more than 250,000 Americans are currently living with the disease. The most common symptoms of PF include a chronic, dry cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms include weakness, discomfort in the chest, loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.

“Our hearts go out to the loved ones of B. Smyth,” said William T. Schmidt, President and CEO of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF). “Pulmonary fibrosis is a very serious disease, yet many patients have never heard of it prior to their diagnosis. The PFF is mobilizing people and resources to drive awareness and earlier diagnoses, and leading research so that we may ultimately have a cure for PF.”

There are more than 50,000 new cases of pulmonary fibrosis diagnosed every year. While anyone can develop pulmonary fibrosis, it is more likely to occur in those 60 years and older with a history of smoking, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans at risk for the disease. Other risk factors include: a family history of pulmonary fibrosis; prior or current use of certain medications such as chemotherapy and amiodarone; a history of radiation treatment to the chest; environmental and occupational exposures including indoor mold, birds or asbestos; and a previous diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis or another autoimmune disease.

Those with symptoms or risk factors should speak with their healthcare provider. Early diagnosis is key to maximizing treatment options. To help start that conversation with a doctor, a downloadable Pulmonary Fibrosis Risk List is available at AboutPF.org.

For more information or to find a pulmonologist near you, visit pulmonaryfibrosis.org.

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About the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation

The mission of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation is to accelerate the development of new treatments and ultimately a cure for pulmonary fibrosis. Until this goal is achieved, the PFF is committed to advancing improved care of patients with PF and providing unequaled support and education resources for patients, caregivers, family members, and health care providers. The PFF has a three-star rating from Charity Navigator and is an accredited charity by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance. The Foundation has met all of the requirements of the National Health Council Standards of Excellence Certification Program® and has earned the Guidestar Platinum Seal of Transparency. For more information, visit pulmonaryfibrosis.org or call 844.TalkPFF (844.825.5733).

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November 18, 2022