University of Iowa physician–scientist receives prestigious Lasker Award

"To win the Lasker-DeBakey Award is an extraordinary achievement, and Mike Welsh is fully deserving of this honor. He is a consummate physician-scientist who has devoted his career to improving patients' lives through the pursuit of discoveries that make life-saving medicines possible," says Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH, UI vice president for medical affairs and the Tyrone D. Artz Dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. "Mike Welsh's work exemplifies how fundamental science - driven by curiosity, collaboration, and purpose - can lead to transformative innovations and therapies."

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that damages the lungs and other organs. It is caused by mutations in a single gene that produces a protein, known as CFTR, which allows chloride ions to move in and out of cells. This flow of chloride ions keeps the surface of the airways hydrated and maintains a protective layer of mucus to capture and flush away germs and other irritants. CF mutations damage the CFTR protein, preventing normal chloride ion flow that leads to thick sticky mucus, chronic infections, and progressive lung destruction.

Welsh's research has been instrumental in understanding the function of this critical CTFR protein and how it is "broken" in CF. This knowledge laid the foundation for life-saving therapies that have transformed CF into a manageable condition.

Today, around 90% of people with CF are candidates for these therapies, and the changes in patients' outcomes are remarkable: For patients born between 1999-2003 - before these therapies existed - their average life span was mid 30s. For babies born now, life expectancy can be up to 80.