Naftali Kaminski, M.D., the Boehringer Ingelheim Endowed Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary), and chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, has been awarded the 2016 European Respiratory Society (ERS) Gold Medal in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD). He will receive the award and 50,000 euros at the ERS International Congress in September. Earlier this year, Kaminski was elected a fellow of the ERS.
Born and trained in Israel, Kaminski completed his research training at the University of California, San Francisco, and after heading the Simmons Center for ILD in Pittsburgh was recruited to Yale School of Medicine in 2013. Kaminski is known for his significant contributions to ILD research and respiratory medicine. He is considered a pioneer in the application of high throughput methods and systems biology to implement precision medicine approaches to pulmonary fibrosis and advanced lung disease research. Kaminski is also known as a passionate advocate for open data sharing, collaborative research and empowerment of patients as partners in fighting disease. Among his discoveries are the role of MMP7 in pulmonary fibrosis, the altered repertoire of microRNAs in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) lung, and their potential as therapeutics, and the discovery of highly reproducible peripheral blood biomarkers in IPF.
Kaminski’s achievements and contributions have been widely recognized in recent years, and he has received awards from the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis, the American Thoracic Society, and the Helmholtz Institute. Kaminski serves currently as deputy editor for Thorax BMJ and has been recently been elected as president-elect of the Association of the Directors of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Divisions. In the last three years, as the chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Yale, he led the section through an unprecedented period of growth including junior faculty retention and promotion, near doubling of research funding, and creation and reorganization of novel programs such as the Center for Pulmonary Precision Medicine, the Center for Pulmonary Infection Research and Treatment, and the Yale Center of Excellence for Interstitial Lung Disease.