Keynote Speaker

Michael Welsh, M.D.

Professor of Internal Medicine
Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Occupational Medicine
University of Iowa

Michael Welsh, M.D., is a pioneering physician-scientist and distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where he also holds appointments in Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Neurology, and Neurosurgery, and serves as Director of the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute.

An Iowa native, Dr. Welsh earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Iowa, where he also completed internal medicine residency training. He then obtained advanced training through fellowship programs in research and pulmonary medicine at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Texas at Houston. He joined the University of Iowa faculty in 1981.

Dr. Welsh’s groundbreaking work revealed that cystic fibrosis (CF) results from mutations in the CFTR protein, a chloride channel critical for airway hydration. His team demonstrated how these mutations impair chloride flow and pioneered strategies to “correct” defective CFTR, laying the foundation for therapies that now benefit about 90% of people with CF. This research ultimately enabled the development of a triple-drug combination that dramatically improves life expectancy, from the mid-30s for patients born before these therapies to potentially 80 years for babies born today.

In recognition of these achievements, Dr. Welsh received the 2025 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, often called “America’s Nobel,” alongside collaborators Jesús González and Paul Negulescu. His honors also include the Steven C. Beering Award (2017), the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2018), the George M. Kober Medal (20200, the Shaw Prize in Life Sciences & Medicine (2022), the Wiley Prize (2023), the Switzer Prize (2023), the Canada Gairdner International Award (2025), and the Yergin-New International Prize for Biomedical Research (2025).

A former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Dr. Welsh has served as president of both the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and he is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and National Academy of Sciences.

Despite decades of progress, he continues to pursue solutions for the remaining 10% of patients with CF who lack effective treatments. Beyond cystic fibrosis, his research extends to neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.