Meet the 2024 Winner: Mareike Lehmann, PhD

Dr Mareike Lehmann studied molecular biomedicine at the University of Bonn and Yale University before moving to Switzerland for her PhD. She joined the Comprehensive Pneumology Center in Munich for her Postdoc where she got interested in lung aging. She then started her own group in Munich focusing on cellular senescence in chronic lung diseases and has recently been appointed as an assistant professor of translational inflammation research at the Philipps University Marburg. She was awarded with a prestigious Emmy Noether award that will further allow her to explore cellular senescence in chronic lung diseases.

As a member of the ATS Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology Assembly since 2015,  she has served in the the Early Career Professionals Working Group, and is currently serving in the planning committee. Dr Lehmann is co-chair of the aging working group of the RCMB and co-headed the ATS workshop on PCLS as  emerging tools for preclinical and translational lung research in 2023.

Dr. Lehmann has contributed important work in IPF and COPD translational research, including the first preclinical testing of senolytic compounds in pulmonary fibrosis in 2017 and the identification of a G Protein coupled receptor associated with fibrotic epithelium in 2022. This work has become an important reference for other studies of lung aging in CLDs. Currently, Dr. 

Lehmann is investigating  the effect of cellular senescence and inflammaging in the development of COPD and IPF with a special focus on extracellular vesicles.

Description:

The RCMB has established the Carol B. Basbaum Award in recognition of outstanding scientific achievement, mentorship, and leadership potential to a junior investigator in the field of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 

This award was created in memory of Dr. Carol B. Basbaum, a brilliant scientist who had an international reputation in the area of airway biology and inflammation who passed away in 2005, in the prime of her career. She made seminal findings in airway pathobiology and was considered the preeminent scientist in the field. She was the first to describe the plasticity of airway epithelial cells and describe the role of several new molecules in the lung.  This award also celebrates the leadership and mentoring role that Carol displayed throughout her career and her selfless contributions to her trainees and colleagues.

The award will be presented at the annual RCMB Membership Meeting during the ATS International Conference.

Criteria:

• The nominee must be:
  • a senior Fellow or Assistant Professor (or equivalent)
  • a member of the RCMB assembly.  Priority will be given to primary RCMB members
  • able to attend the ATS International Conference
• The nominee cannot receive any other Travel Grant or Award within the ATS that includes Travel to the Conference.

Guidelines for Submitting a Nomination:

• Send the nominee’s current NIH-style Biosketch
• Send one support letter with signatures of 3-5 suporters who attest to the impact of the nominee on the RCMB mission.

• Scientific Achievement
• Mentoring
• Leadership potential
• Involvement with ATS and RCMB Assembly

Scoring metric weight:

• 3x - Scientific Contributions/Products
• 1x - Teaching/Mentoring/Educational Contributions
• 1x - Participation in Assembly and ATS Activities (administrative, committees, workshops etc.)
• 1x - Overall impact/impression of dossier submitted for award application

Nomination for the RCMB Carol Basbaum Award will also mean automatic entry into the Science Innovation Center’s Rising Stars of Research Program. The two runners up to the Award (who have research in the area of basic/translational science) will be chosen for this program. Previous awardees are not eligible for the same award.

The two candidates will showcase their research by giving a 15-minute talk in one of two sessions featuring “Rising Stars”. Winners of the Rising Stars of Research Program from, AII, PI-TB, RCMB, and RSF will present their work at the Science and Innovation Center during the ATS International Conference this May. Certificates will also be awarded during the session.

View Previous Award Recipients