Thomas Ferkol, MD, director of the division of allergy, immunology and pulmonary medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital’s cystic fibrosis center, was elected chair of the American Thoracic Society Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics at its annual conference. Dr. Ferkol is an associate professor of pediatrics and of cell biology and physiology at the School of Medicine.
Dr. Ferkol’s research has focused on the development of cell and animal models to study cystic fibrosis, defining genetic and molecular factors that contribute to chronic endobronchial infection, inflammation and airway injury. With funding from the National Institutes of Health and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Dr. Ferkol and his collaborators have developed novel approaches for airway-specific drug delivery and non-invasive measures of inflammation in the cystic fibrosis lung. These approaches will not only improve the outcomes of patients with cystic fibrosis, but could provide better assessment tools and novel treatment strategies for other suppurative lung diseases in children.
The Assembly on Pediatrics has 966 primary and 1,499 primary and secondary members of diverse backgrounds and interests, who are brought together by the common goal of understanding and improving the respiratory health of infants, children and adolescents. The Assembly’s membership includes specialists in pulmonology, allergy-immunology, neonatology, pediatric critical care (and related disciplines), nurses and respiratory therapists from across the world.