DOM Chair to Receive American Thoracic Society’s 2018 Distinguished Achievement Award

Dr. Monica KraftUA Department of Medicine Chair Monica Kraft, MD, will receive the American Thoracic Society’s Distinguished Achievement Award at the ATS 2018 International Conference held in San Diego, May 18-23.

ATS 2018 - purple bannerA world-renowned respiratory physician-scientist whose research focuses on chronic asthma and its treatment, Dr. Kraft served as ATS president in 2012-13 and has been active with the organization for decades, serving on numerous committees and panels. A professor of medicine and department chair since 2014, she is also the Robert and Irene Flinn Endowed Chair of Medicine at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, deputy director of the UA Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and a member of the UA BIO5 Institute.

In the past year, she has:

  • Received the American College of Physicians – Arizona Chapter Researcher of the Year Award,
  • Published findings on molecular reasons for poor symptom control in obese asthmatics,
  • Testified before the U.S. Senate on the impact lowering air quality standards may have on respiratory and asthma patients,
  • Been named a 2017-18 fellow in the Ameringen Executive Leadership Program at Drexel University,
  • Been elected a fellow of the European Respiratory Society, and
  • Served on the UA College of Medicine – Tucson 50th Anniversary Innovations & Inventions Fair panel, UA Health Sciences Translational Research Career Panel, and as lead-off and closing speaker in the Banner – University Medicine Doc Talk lecture series.

She also won grants in 2017 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a six-year, $2.42 million award as part of the PrecISE Network: ADAPT—Advancing Severe Asthma Precision Therapy—program) and Arizona Biomedical Research Commission (a three-year, $750,000 award for a study on “Surfactant Protein A as an Innate Immune Modulator in Asthma”).

These activities are in addition to multiple committees Dr. Kraft serves on related to the UA College of Medicine - Tucson, UA Health Sciences and the Academic Management Council, a joint body of the UA and Banner Health to help oversee operations of the Banner – University Medicine Division formed when the UA Health Network merged with Banner in 2015. This has resulted in construction of a 208,000-square-foot, $100-million outpatient care center at 3838 N. Campbell Ave., Building 2; a new $400-million, nine-story hospital tower at the Banner – UMC Tucson campus, as well as two UAHS research and educational buildings valued at more than $250 million. The last three buildings are still under construction.

Among other honors, Dr. Kraft has been recognized as a fellow in the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (2016), American College of Physicians (1999) and American College of Chest Physicians (1997). Other awards she has won include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (presented at the White House in 2000), Parker B. Francis Fellowship for Lung Research (1994-96), NIH Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Award (1996) and the Solomon Scholar Research Award (1990).

She earned her medical degree from the University of California San Francisco, completed her residency in internal medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where she was chief resident, and did a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

ATS 2018 - See you in San Diego bannerThe American Thoracic Society and ATS International Conference are a home for pulmonary, critical care, and sleep professionals, from those in the earliest stages of their careers to those whose research or strides in clinical care has gained them international recognition. Each year, nearly 14,000 of these professionals choose to attend, present, and learn about the latest advances, meet with colleagues from around the world, and strike new collaborations.

Distinguished physician, educator, and medical scientist Darrell G. Kirch, MD, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, will offer the opening ceremony keynote address, Saturday, May 19, in the San Diego Convention Center (Hall H).

Learn more at: http://www.thoracic.org (society) or http://conference.thoracic.org (conference).

ALSO SEE:
“Curtain about to Rise for New Adult Health Clinics at Banner – University Medicine North” | Posted Dec. 22, 2017
“DOM Faculty Turn Out in Force for 50th Anniversary UA College of Medicine Research Fair” | Posted Oct. 23, 2017
“DOM to Take ACP Researcher of the Year, Med Student of the Year and Laureate Awards” | Posted Oct. 17, 2016
“Published Study Finds Molecular Reason for Poor Symptom Control in Obese Asthmatics” | Posted July 14, 2017
“Dr. Monica Kraft Named Fellow in Executive Leadership Program for Women in Academic Medicine” | Posted June 8, 2017
“Asthma Research Gets Spotlight in Arizona Republic Op-Ed by UA Senior VPs” | Posted June 5, 2017
“Department of Medicine Chair Named Fellow of the European Respiratory Society” | Posted June 1, 2017
“DOM Chair’s Senate Testimony at Odds with ADEQ Chief on Relaxing Air Quality Standards” | Posted May 25, 2017
“Dr. Monica Kraft, 11 Other UAHS Investigators Secure ABRC Grant Awards Worth Nearly $6M” | Posted March 6, 2017
“With Audience of 200, Dr. Kraft Caps Banner ‘Doc Talk’ Lecture Series — Daily Wildcat” | Posted March 2, 2017
“Out with a Bang in 2016, DOM Faculty Gear Up for Bigger, Better Things in New Year” | Posted Jan. 25, 2017

Release Date: 
01/23/2018 - 4:15pm