Steven Idell, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Steven Idell is a clinical investigator who has been continually funded over the past 30 years by the National Institutes of Health for his work in the areas of acute lung injury and pleural diseases. He is a board-certified internist and pulmonologist who has also directed the Intensive Care Units at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Texas. He is now Vice President for Research, a Professor of Medicine and Temple Chair of Pulmonary Fibrosis at UTHSCT and Director of an NIH-sponsored Program Project Grant to study the role of the fibrinolytic system in the pathogenesis of lung and pleural disease. Work from that project led to the development of scuPA as a treatment for pleural loculation and of a peptide-based approach for treating acute lung injury and pulmonary fibrosis.

Dr. Idell also continues to manage patients in the UTHSCT Pulmonary Clinic. He has successfully obtained over $27 million in grant support from agencies including the NIH, The American Heart Association, The American Lung Association, and various foundations. He is the Director of the Texas Lung Injury Institute of UTHCT and has raised nearly $1 million of philanthropic support for lung injury research to develop novel experimental therapeutics from the community, grateful patients and various foundations in East Texas and has received commitment from the NIH RAID and SMARTT programs to perform IND-enabling studies with his lead therapeutic, LTI-01. In addition to his role as CSO, Dr. Idell also serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board and a Member of the Board of Directors.

Andreas Günther, M.D.

Dr. Andreas Günther is a Professor of Internal Medicine at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Director of the ILD program of the University Hospital in Giessen-Marburg in Germany. He is also the Department Chair of the Pneumology and Intensive Care and Medical Vice Director at Agaplesion Evangelisches Krankenhaus Mittelhessen, as well as Medical Director of the Lung Clinic Waldhof-Elgershausen, a 95-bed teaching hospital serving pulmonary patients exclusively. Professor Günther is a faculty member and leader for the Cardiopulmonary System cluster and is also involved in the University of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center LOEWE Project and Platform Biobanking of the German Center for Lung Research. He is active in several clinical trials, as well as in investigator-driven studies. He served as spokesman of the Pathomechanism and Therapy of Lung Fibrosis a local clinical research unit and coordinates the European IPF Registry. As a Professor, he has published more than 140 original scientific papers, including in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Günther received the prestigious Heisenberg grant of the DFG, the Young Investigator Award of the German Society of Pneumology and the Oskar Helene Heim Foundation’s Medicine Prize. He has twice been recognized as Best Teacher of the Year in the Molecular Biology and Medicine of the Lung graduate program. Dr. Günther is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.

Najib M Rahman, M.D.

Dr. Najib Rahman runs the Oxford Pleural Unit, Directs the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit and conducts research in pleural disease at the Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine. Having qualified in Oxford he underwent the medical SHO rotation at Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, and re-joined Oxford as a Specialist Registrar in 2003. He undertook a DPhil and MSc in this period and was appointed Senior Lecturer and Director of the Oxford Respiratory Trials Unit, Consultant and Lead for Pleural Disease in Oxford in 2011. He was appointed as Associate Professor in 2014 and Professor of Respiratory Medicine in 2018. He is currently involved in randomized and observational studies in pleural infection, pneumothorax and malignant pleural effusion intervention.  He is trained in Thoracoscopy, Thoracic Ultrasound and Clinical Trials methodology, and has published over 180 papers with citations of >6000.

Toby Maher, M.D. Ph.D.

Toby Maher, M.D. Ph.D. is Professor of Medicine and Director of Interstitial Lung Disease at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles and Professor of Interstitial Lung Disease at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, UK and Honorary Physician at Royal Brompton Hospital, London.

His research interests include clinical trials, biomarker discovery, the lung microbiome and host immune response in the pathogenesis of IPF and clinical trials in fibrotic lung disease. He is an associate editor for American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He has authored over 260 papers and book chapters on IPF.

Fernando J. Martinez, M.D., M.S.

Dr. Fernando J. Martinez is the Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine of the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He was a Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Chief for Clinical Research in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as medical director of its Pulmonary Diagnostic Services and co-medical director of the Lung Transplantation Program previously. Professor Martinez’s main research interests include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease, lung transplantation, and lung volume reduction. Dr. Martinez is currently a member of the American Thoracic Society, the GOLD Science Committee and sits on several editorial boards, including for Journal of COPD, where he serves as deputy editor and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He is the former chair of the Clinical Problems Assembly of the American Thoracic Society and he was on the committee that generated guidelines for the management of COPD, respiratory infections, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing. He continues to be a member of the European Respiratory Society, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the Fleischner Society. After graduating from the University of Florida School of Medicine in Gainesville, Florida, Dr. Martinez completed a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and a fellowship in pulmonary medicine at the Boston University Pulmonary Center. He received a master’s in biostatistics and clinical study design from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Ganesh Raghu, M.D.

Dr. Ganesh Raghu is an Adjunct Professor in Laboratory Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, as well as the Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease/Sarcoid/Pulmonary Fibrosis Program at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. He focuses his clinical research in key areas: the diagnosis and treatment of interstitial lung diseases (ILD), the significance of gastroesophageal reflux in the management of ILD and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), the role of HRCT and lung biopsy in IPF, the role of HRCT and lung biopsy in IPF, genetic predisposition of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and familial IPF management of sarcoidosis, and outcome measures in IPF and lung transplantation. Dr. Raghu is received his medical degree from the Mysore Medical College in India where he also did his internship. He completed his residency in General Medicine and Chest Medicine at Hartlepool General Hospital and Medical Center at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in England. He also completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the State University of New York in Buffalo, NY. Dr. Raghu’s fellowships in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Lung Cell Biology were at the University of Washington.

Gerard Criner, M.D.

Dr. Gerard Criner is the Department Chair and Professor of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, where he also obtained his medical degree in 1989. His primary research focuses on advanced lung conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and respiratory failure. Dr. Criner is a committee member of the Intensive Care Unit Committee at Temple University Hospital and executive director of Philadelphia Critical Care Society. He serves on the editorial review board of Advances for Respiratory Care Managers and American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM). He is a member of the board of directors for the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). He acts as Chairman of the ACCP guidelines on the prevention of acute exacerbations in COPD. Dr. Criner completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. In 2013, Dr. Criner was the recipient of the Paul W. Eberman Faculty Research Award from Temple University. As a principal investigator, Dr. Criner has received extensive research funding and has conducted several clinical trials in pulmonary disease. Dr. Criner has published over 300 scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters, with numerous research articles in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, AJRCCM, Chest and Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Dr. Criner has lectured nationally and internationally at numerous scientific meetings and congresses.

Y.C. Gary Lee, M.D. Ph.D.

Professor Y.C. Gary Lee is internationally recognized as a key opinion leader in pleural disease. Professor Gary Lee is a chest physician and professor with 15 years of experience in translational research of pleural diseases especially pleural malignancies and infection. His pleural program includes a laboratory and a clinical research arm closely integrated with an active tertiary clinical pleural disease service which he directs. This research program is amongst the most active in the field. Professor Lee’s work has translated to clinical practice on many occasions and contributed directly to reducing mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs in patient care. He has published 180 original and invited papers and a grant record of over AUD 10 million. He has delivered over 150 invited lectures on pleural diseases at major conferences in 26 countries. He is the editor of the Textbook of Pleural Diseases (three editions), the most comprehensive text in the field, and has served on international pleural guideline panels and has a strong record in training clinical fellows and postdoctoral scientists. Professor Lee worked for 10 years with the leading pleural groups in the U.S. and the UK, during which time he won a Fulbright Graduate Scholarship (USA), two Young Investigator Awards, two Wellcome Trust (UK) Fellowships, and a HEFC (UK) Senior Lecturer Award.

James Caccitolo, M.D.

Dr. James Caccitolo is the Medical Director: Trinity Clinic Cardiothoracic Surgery, Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital in Tyler, Texas. He specializes in the field of Thoracic Surgery and performs numerous, advanced surgical operations of the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs and structures of the chest. One of his specializations is in surgeries to treat lung cancer. He is Board Certified in Surgery with the American Board of Surgery and received his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, IL. Dr. Caccitolo completed a residency in general surgery at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, MN and a cardiothoracic residency at Harvard School of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He also has completed a fellowship in clinical investigation in cardiac surgery at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine.

Richard J. Castriotta, M.D.

Richard J. Castriotta, M.D., FCCP, FAASM is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles and Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School (UTHealth). He has served as Professor of Internal Medicine, and Director of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at UTHealth as well as Chief of Pulmonary Medicine, Chairman of the Institutional Ethics Committee and Medical Director of the Sleep Disorders Center and Pulmonary Diagnostic Services at Memorial Hermann Hospital - Texas Medical Center in Houston. He has served as President of the Southern Sleep Society, Chair of the Connecticut Thoracic Society Section on Sleep Medicine, Chair of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Sleep NetWork Steering Committee, Chair of the ACCP Palliative and End-of-Life Care NetWork Steering Committee, a member of the ACCP SEEK Editorial Board, Vice-Chair of the Southern Medical Association Chest Disease Section, and President of the Southern Sleep Foundation Board of Directors. He is a Distinguished CHEST Educator and Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Listed for many years in Marquis Who’s Who, in 2018 he was the recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and recognized in the Wall Street Journal in 2019.

Sreerama Shetty, Ph.D.

Special Advisor to LTI-03

Dr. Sreerama Shetty currently serves as a Professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (UTHCT). He has maintained continuous funding from the NIH and other foundations or other extramural funding agencies for the last 25 years. He is an internationally recognized authority in the investigation of mechanisms that govern lung scarring, has served on numerous grant panels and is a frequent reviewer for high impact journals in the field. Dr. Shetty was the principal investigator on five NIH-sponsored R01s and several other grants to study the role of the p53 system in the pathogenesis of lung epithelial injury and pulmonary fibrosis. This work led to the discovery of LTI-03, a novel potential treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Shetty has published more than 80 research papers related to lung injury and lung remodeling.