Karin de Winter – de Groot (MD, PhD) is pediatric pulmonologist and member of the staff (department of pediatric pulmonology and CF Center UMCU) since May 2009. In 2019 she graduated on a thesis on clinical validation of intestinal organoids as biomarker of CFTR function and on the dynamics of respiratory and gastrointestinal microbiota in subjects with CF. For this thesis she received in 2020 the prof. Swieringa Thesis Award of the Dutch Respiratory Society (NRS). The research interest of Karin de Winter focusses on rare genetic respiratory diseases (eg CF and PCD). Together with colleagues of the Beekman lab she developed a diagnostic route to respond to (inter)national requests for difficult diagnosis in CF or rare/unknown CFTR mutations using intestinal organoid measurements. For PCD she recently received different grants to fill the air-biobank of the UMCU with airway organoids of patients with PCD to be able to find therapeutic options through personalized medicine. She is member/vice-president of the medical ethical committee in Utrecht (Ned Mec) and she chairs the Dutch pediatric pulmonology society (SKL) and the advisory board of newborn screening of CF (ANHS-CF). Furthermore, she is (core group) member of several committees of the European CF society (ECFS) and ERN-LUNG. See pubmed for all peer-reviewed and published papers.

David N. Cornfield earned a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine (1986) and completed residency at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri where he was recognized as the Most Outstanding House Officer and Chief Resident (1989). He later completed his fellowship in both pediatric pulmonology and critical care medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver Children’s and National Jewish Hospital, Denver (1993). Cornfield was appointed the first holder of the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professorship in Pediatric Pulmonary Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine in December 2005. He is director of the Center for Excellence in Pulmonary Biology, and chief of the division of pediatric pulmonary, asthma, and sleep medicine at Stanford University. Prior to joining the faculty of Stanford University, David served as professor of pediatrics, physiology, and surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Division Director of Pediatric Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, interim head of the Department of Pediatrics, and as the Associate Dean for Research. At Stanford University, Dr. Cornfield led the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine from 2006 through 2015, Dr. Cornfield’s basic science research focuses on pulmonary vascular development, alveolarization, and the molecular mechanisms underlying oxygen sensing. His research has provided insight into the fundamental biology of the transition of pulmonary circulation at birth, determinants of pulmonary vascular tone, and lung development. Ongoing research includes the transcriptomics of the developing lung using single cell RNA sequencing, uterine contractility in term and preterm labor, and lung barrier function. His laboratory has been NIH funded for the past 25 years. Clinical and translational research has included work on inhaled nitric oxide, acute lung injury in infants and children, non-invasive approaches to detect organ rejection, the lung microbiome in cystic fibrosis, remote monitoring of asthma, design and creation of low-cost mechanical ventilator, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), and training and retaining physician-scientists in pediatrics. Dr. Cornfield is an active member of the American Pediatric Society (APS), American Thoracic Society, Society for Pediatric Research (SPR), American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and American Physiological Society, and served previously as President of the SPR. He serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology, Pediatrics, Scientific Reports, and Pulmonary Circulation. He is an active member of the peer review community including grants and manuscripts. Dr. Cornfield is committed to training the next generation of physician-scientists and is a founding co-Director of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Physician-Scientist Training Program and Director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance Physician-Scientist Fellowship Program and co-Dorecotr of an NIH training grant. Dr. Cornfield is the recipient of numerous professional honors including the Daniel C. Darrow Award from Children’s Mercy Hospital, the Richard B. Rowe Award for outstanding achievements in perinatal cardiology from the SPR, the Established-Investigator and Clinician-Scientist Awards from the AHA, and Clinician of the Year Award from the University of Minnesota Medical School and has been recognized annually as an Outstanding Faculty Educator, “Top Pediatrician” and “Best Doctor.”

Dr. Felix Ratjen is a Paediatric Respirologist in the Division of Respiratory Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. He is also Program Head and Senior Scientist in the Translational Medicine research program at SickKids Research Institute and co-leads the SickKids CF Centre. Dr. Ratjen conducts multiple clinical trials addressing cystic fibrosis lung disease including new therapeutic strategies to target the underlying defect, treatment of airway infections such as first infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, airway inflammation and other important aspects of the disease. In addition, he is involved in developing and validating new outcome measures to quantify important aspects of CF lung disease that can be utilized in clinical trials. He also studies other lung diseases and over the recent years has developed an interest in the clinical evaluation of Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT), for which he is leading one of the largest dedicated paediatric clinics.