American pulmonologist
Michael James Welsh is an American
pulmonologist . He is the current
Roy J. Carver Chair in Biomedical Research,
[2] the
Professor of
Internal Medicine in
Pulmonary ,
Critical Care and
Occupational Medicine at the Department of Internal Medicine, and the Director of Pappajohn Biomedical Institute,
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine ,
University of Iowa .
[3] He is also a professor at the Department of
Neurosurgery , Department of
Neurology , and Department of Molecular Physiology and
Biophysics .
[3] He received the 2022
Shaw Prize in Life science and Medicine , together with
Paul A. Negulescu , for their work that uncovered the
etiology of
cystic fibrosis and developed effective
medications .
[4]
Early life and education
Welsh was born and raised in
Marshalltown ,
Iowa , and went to
Loras College in
Dubuque .
[1] He has 3
siblings .
[5] He obtained his
BSc from the
University of Iowa , then his
MD from
College of Medicine of the same university (now the
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine ) in 1974.
[1]
[3] He completed his
residency in
Internal Medicine at the
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics ,
[3] during which the
attending physicians supervising him induced his interest in research.
[5]
Career
After his
residency , Welsh spent 3 years at the
University of California, San Francisco and then
University of Texas
Medical School at Houston as a research fellow, returning to the
University of Iowa in 1981 and becoming an
assistant professor at the Department of
Internal Medicine , eventually promoted to
Professor of Internal Medicine and Professor of Molecular Physiology and
Biophysics .
[1]
Welsh was the President of the
American Society for Clinical Investigation between 1996 and 1997,
[6] and has been the President of the
Association of American Physicians .
[7] Currently, Welsh is an investigator at the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (since 1989)
[8] and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Harrington Discovery Institute at
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center .
[7]
Research
Welsh's research centered on
cystic fibrosis , specifically the
CFTR protein, an
ion channel that allows
chloride ions to pass through. His studies helped answer questions about why defects in the protein emerge and how these defects affect the protein's function.
[9]
[10] In 1989,
Lap-Chee Tsui ,
Francis Collins , and their team discovered the
gene that encodes the CFTR protein and found that changes in the protein caused cystic fibrosis.
[11] Welsh's group discovered in 1991 that the CFTR protein is a
chloride channel , meaning it allows chloride ions to pass through
cell membrane .
[12] The same year, his group reported how the activity of the CFTR protein could be regulated.
[13] He later categorized the four classes of CFTR
mutations that are still in use today in an expanded format.
[14] Crucially, Welsh and his group found that when the CFTR protein contains F508del mutation, the most common mutation in cystic fibrosis patients, it could be transported to the
cell surface under low temperature but not at body temperature.
[15] His study also showed F508del-mutated CFTR protein can function properly if it reached cell surface,
[16] paving the way for cystic fibrosis therapies. In recent years, Welsh has developed
animal models of cystic fibrosis, most notably in
pigs , allowing for the study of the disease in an in vivo setting.
[17]
Personal life
Welsh married twice. He met his first wife, who died in 2006 from
cancer , when she was a
college student. They had 3 children. Welsh married his second wife in 2013.
[5]
Honors and awards
References
^
a
b
c
d
e Abboud, François M. (2009).
"Introduction of Gordon Wilson Medal recipient Dr. Michael Welsh" . Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association . 120 : 147–148.
PMC
2744533 .
PMID
19768172 .
^
"Welsh Lab - Contact Us" . Pappajohn Biomedical Institute,
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine ,
University of Iowa . Archived from
the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
d
"Michael J. Welsh, MD" . Department of Internal Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa. Archived from
the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022 .
^
"Press Release" (Press release). Shaw Prize Foundation. May 24, 2022. Archived from
the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
"Autobiography of Michael J Welsh" .
Shaw Prize Foundation . Archived from
the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022 .
^
"Michael J. Welsh, MD" .
American Society for Clinical Investigation . Archived from
the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022 .
^
a
b
"Michael Welsh, MD" . Harrington Discovery Institute at
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center . Archived from
the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022 .
^
"Michael J. Welsh, MD" .
Howard Hughes Medical Institute . Archived from
the original on October 25, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022 .
^
"DR. MICHAEL WELSH" . Sanford Lorraine Cross Award. Archived from
the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022 .
^
"Essay" . Shaw Prize Foundation. Archived from
the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved October 28, 2022 .
^ Riordan, John R.; Rommens, Johanna M.; Kerem, Bat-Sheva; Alon, Noa; Rozmahel, Richard; Grzelczak, Zbyszko; Zielenski, Julian; Lok, Si; Plavsic, Natasa; Chou, Jia-Ling; Drumm, Mitchell L.; Iannuzzi, Michael C.;
Collins, Francis S. ;
Tsui, Lap-Chee (1989).
"Identification of the cystic fibrosis gene: cloning and characterization of complementary DNA" .
Science . 245 (4922): 1066–1073.
doi :
10.1126/science.2570460 .
PMID
2475911 .
S2CID
86352511 . Retrieved October 27, 2022 .
^ Anderson, Matthew P.; Gregory, Richard J.; Thompson, Simon; Souza, David W.; Paul, Sucharita; Mulligan, Richard C.; Smith, Alan E.; Welsh, Michael J. (1991).
"Demonstration that CFTR is a chloride channel by alteration of its anion selectivity" . Science . 253 (5016): 202–205.
Bibcode :
1991Sci...253..202A .
doi :
10.1126/science.1712984 .
PMID
1712984 . Retrieved October 27, 2022 .
^ Cheng, Seng H.; Rich, Devra P.; Marshall, John; Gregory, Richard J.; Welsh, Michael J.; Smith, Alan E. (1991).
"Phosphorylation of the R domain by cAMP-dependent protein kinase regulates the CFTR chloride channel" .
Cell . 66 (5): 1027–1036.
doi :
10.1016/0092-8674(91)90446-6 .
PMID
1716180 .
S2CID
25208449 . Retrieved October 28, 2022 .
^ Welsh, Michael J.; Smith, Alan E. (1993).
"Molecular mechanisms of CFTR chloride channel dysfunction in cystic fibrosis" (PDF) . Cell . 73 (7): 1251–1254.
doi :
10.1016/0092-8674(93)90353-r .
PMID
7686820 .
S2CID
36691109 . Archived from
the original (PDF) on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022 .
^ Denning, Gerene M.; Anderson, Matthew P.; Amara, Jane F.; Marshall, John; Smith, Alan E.; Welsh, Michael J. (1994).
"Processing of mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator is temperature-sensitive" .
Nature . 358 (6389): 761–764.
doi :
10.1038/358761a0 .
PMID
1380673 .
S2CID
4365756 . Retrieved October 28, 2022 .
^ Cheng, S. H.; Fang, S. L.; Zabner, J.; Marshall, J.; Piraino, S.; Schiavi, S. C.; Jefferson, D. M.; Welsh, M. J.; Smith, A. E. (1995).
"Functional activation of the cystic fibrosis trafficking mutant delta F508-CFTR by overexpression" .
American Journal of Physiology . 268 (1): L615-624.
doi :
10.1152/ajplung.1995.268.4.L615 .
PMID
7733303 . Retrieved October 28, 2022 .
^
^
"Amberson Lecturers" .
American Thoracic Society . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Michael J. Welsh, M.D."
National Academy of Medicine . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Michael J. Welsh" .
American Academy of Arts and Sciences . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Michael J. Welsh" .
National Academy of Sciences . Archived from
the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"APS 2017 Distinguished Lectureship Award Winners to Present Talks at Experimental Biology" .
American Physiological Society . April 18, 2017. Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Steven C. Beering Award" .
Indiana University . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Michael Welsh" .
Warren Alpert Foundation Prize . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"Welsh receives Kober Medal" . Department of Internal Medicine, Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa. April 15, 2021. Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"George M. Kober Medal and Lectureship" .
Association of American Physicians . Archived from
the original on October 31, 2022. Retrieved October 31, 2022 .
^
"The 2022 Prize in Life Science & Medicine" . Shaw Prize Foundation. Archived from
the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022 .
^
Wiley Prize 2023
Astronomy Life science and medicine Mathematical science
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