Sue Sherman, MHA

Sue Sherman is the CEO of our LAM Foundation. Under her nine years of leadership, the Foundation has distributed more than $5 million in research funding to LAM investigators, hosted seven international research conferences and LAMposiums, implemented an annual in-person scientific advisory board study section, launched and sustained multiple virtual formats for fundraising, education, and collaboration, and effectively integrated the patient voice into research design. Sue is also an active member of the American Thoracic Society’s Public Advisory Roundtable.

As the leader of The LAM Foundation, Sue has developed a deep appreciation for the different perspectives held by patients, family members, clinicians, and scientists, and strives to create opportunities where their many voices can translate into a single mission to cure LAM.

Prior to her role at the Foundation, Sue held senior executive positions where she contributed to the advancement of health and the healthcare industry for more than 20 years. She holds a Master of Health Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, a Bachelor of Science in biology from Indiana University, and was formerly a certified executive coach.

Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD

Dr. Stephen Hammes received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology from Duke University, followed by a residency in General Medicine and a fellowship in Endocrinology at the University of California in San Francisco. In 1999, Dr. Hammes joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he was a W.W. Caruth Scholar in Biomedical Research. Dr. Hammes moved to the University of Rochester in 2009 to become the Louis S. Wolk Distinguished Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. Dr. Hammes is interested in steroid production and steroid signaling in female and male reproductive tracts as well as in steroid-sensitive tumors. He is interested in both the positive and negative effects of androgens in the ovary, with a focus on the pathophysiology and treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). In addition, Dr. Hammes studies how androgens and other signals promote prostate cancer proliferation. Finally, Dr. Hammes is interested in the origins and pathophysiology of lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

 

Nishant Gupta, MD

Nishant Gupta completed his medical school training in India, followed by a residency in internal medicine at the University of Tennessee and a fellowship in the field of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, he has completed fellowship training in the field of rare lung diseases as well as a master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Gupta is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, where he serves as the director of the interstitial and rare lung diseases program. Dr. Gupta’s clinical and research focus is on the field of rare lung diseases such as LAM, and his work is aimed at better defining the natural history, improving detection, and developing novel treatment modalities and monitoring strategies for LAM patients. He also serves as the scientific director of The LAM Foundation and the director of the international LAM Clinic Network.

 

Mary Beth Brown, PT, PhD 

Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, at the University of Washington. Her research is focused on exercise responses in patients and rodent models of pulmonary disease. Her past research helped to establish exercise recommendations for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and cystic fibrosis.  

After attending The LAM Foundation Patient Benefit Conference in 2017, it became clear there was an urgent need for research on exercise and fatigue in LAM. Dr. Brown is currently leading a study to examine the impact of a home-based mobile health exercise program for patients with LAM, and to characterize skeletal muscle and skeletal muscle response to exercise in LAM. 

Daniel Dilling, MD

Dr. Daniel Dilling is a Professor of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and is the medical director of the Lung Transplantation Program at Loyola. He oversees an advanced lung disease program, where patients with pulmonary fibrosis as well as several other advanced or rare lung diseases are under the care of a multidisciplinary team.

Dr. Dilling has been a “lifer” at Loyola, where he attended medical school and received all of his internal medicine and pulmonary and critical care training. His work at Loyola consists of patient care, teaching, administration, and research.

Since 2010, he is the director of the LAM Clinic at Loyola, where he now cares for over 100 patients with LAM. Dr. Dilling is a board member of The LAM Foundation and serves as medical director for our Circle of Hope Transplant Support Program, which is what brings us together today.

Outside of medicine, he enjoys golf, live music, and spending time with his family and their Bernedoodle named Ringo.

 

Kay Blankenship, MPC, LCPC, NCC, CCMHC

Kay Blankenship is board certified and a licensed clinical professional counselor, who has worked in the field of mental health and has taught in higher education for over twenty years. Kay has an extensive background in adolescent mental health and has experience in wellness and emotional health screening programming. She is certified as a QPR (suicide prevention) gatekeeper trainer and services as a suicide prevention and postvention consultant for schools and communities. Kay is currently the clinical consultant and coordinator for Hult Center for Healthy Living’s Youth Mental Health Matters educational program. Kay also works in private counseling practice in Washington, IL.

 

Susan Jacobs, MS, RN, FAAN

Susan Jacobs, MS, RN is a Research Nurse Manager in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Nurse Coordinator in the Interstitial Lung Disease Program at Stanford University/Stanford Healthcare. Her background includes roles as critical care nurse educator, NIH project director for a dyspnea and exercise study, and pulmonary rehabilitation coordinator.

Susan works closely with the Pulmonary Fibrosis and LAM foundations and coordinates interstitial lung disease (ILD) and LAM support groups and educational seminars. Susan’s clinical and research interest areas include improving quality of life issues related to oxygen use, dyspnea, and cough. She is actively involved in the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and chairs the Oxygen Special Interest Group.

Susan is lead author on the results of the first national patient survey of almost 2000 supplemental oxygen users in the United States, the ATS Multidisciplinary Oxygen workshop, and the recent Home Oxygen Therapy for Adults with Chronic Lung Disease, ATS Clinical Practice Guidelines

She received the national LAM Foundation Leader award in 2014, the Outstanding Clinician Award from the California Thoracic Society in 2016, and the John Walsh ATS PAR award in 2019.

Nishant Gupta, MD 

Nishant Gupta completed his medical school training in India, followed by a residency in internal medicine at the University of Tennessee and a fellowship in the field of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, he has completed fellowship training in the field of rare lung diseases as well as a master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Gupta is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, where he serves as the director of the interstitial and rare lung diseases program. Dr. Gupta’s clinical and research focus is on the field of rare lung diseases such as LAM, and his work is aimed at better defining the natural history, improving detection, and developing novel treatment modalities and monitoring strategies for LAM patients.

 

Elizabeth Henske, MD 

Elizabeth (Lisa) Petri Henske is the Director of the Center for LAM Research and Clinical Care at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and a practicing medical oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Yale University, where she majored in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and her MD from Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Henske’s laboratory discovered that lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is caused by mutations in the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) genes. She also was the first to discover that the TSC1 and TSC2 proteins physically interact. Her research laboratory is focused on the cellular, metabolic, and immunologic mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of angiomyolipomas and LAM. She is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and she serves on the Board of Directors of The LAM Foundation and the Professional Advisory Board of the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. Dr. Henske has received awards for her research from the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, The LAM Foundation, the American Thoracic Society, and the Society for Women's Health Research (the Medtronic Prize). EHenske@BWH.Harvard.edu

 

Vera Krymskaya, PhD 

Vera Krymskaya is a Professor of Medicine with tenure at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine and Lung Biology Institute in Philadelphia, PA. The work for which she receives the most recognition is the discovery of the Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC2) gene function as a negative regulator of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR). Dr. Krymskaya's lab was the first to establish primary human LAM cell cultures from donated LAM lung to demonstrate the efficacy of rapamycin for inhibition of mTOR and abrogating LAM cell growth. This key evidence paved the way for clinical trials and to FDA approval of rapamycin for treatment of LAM and TS-LAM. She also developed novel animal models recapitulating major characteristics of LAM, which are used in many labs worldwide for mechanistic studies and preclinical testing to find novel treatments for LAM.

Dr. Krymskaya has received numerous awards, including the Established Investigator Awards from The LAM Foundation, continued funding from National Institutes for Health’s (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), The Department of Defense (DOD), and The American Lung Association. Dr. Krymskaya serves on the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board of The LAM Foundation, the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI), and the Castleman’s Disease Collaborative Network. She served as a member of the Department of Defense TSC Research Program Scientific Peer Review Council. Dr. Krymskaya serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology and as a reviewer of many reputed journals, including Nature Communications, the Journal of Clinical Investigations, Cancer Research, EMBO and PNAS among others. Dr. Krymskaya received the Science Advancement Award from The LAM Foundation and is an elected fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Nishant Gupta, MD 

Nishant Gupta completed his medical school training in India, followed by a residency in internal medicine at the University of Tennessee and a fellowship in the field of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. In addition, he has completed fellowship training in the field of rare lung diseases as well as a master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Gupta is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, where he serves as the director of the interstitial and rare lung diseases program. Dr. Gupta is also the medical director of the international LAM and Rare Lung Diseases Clinic Network. Dr. Gupta’s clinical and research focus is on the field of rare lung diseases such as LAM, and his work is aimed at better defining the natural history, improving detection, and developing novel treatment modalities and monitoring strategies for LAM patients.

Charlie Strange, MD 

Charlie Strange, MD is Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and Medical Director for AlphaNet. Dr. Strange received his undergraduate degree at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, and his medical degree at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He has been at the Medical University of South Carolina for more than 35 years.

Dr. Strange has an interest in rare pulmonary diseases and co-directs a LAM clinic for patients throughout the southeast at MUSC. He is an expert in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and bronchoscopic lung volume reduction for COPD. Dr. Strange is the author or co-author of more than 200 publications, presentations, and book and computer chapters.

Robert Kotloff, MD 

Dr. Robert M. Kotloff specializes in pulmonary medicine with expertise in diagnosing and treating patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis and other cystic lung diseases. He also maintains an active interest in general pulmonary medicine and, in particular, evaluating patients with complex pulmonary disorders. 

Dr. Kotloff received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was one of the founding members of the Penn Lung Transplant Program. After 23 years on faculty at Penn, he left to become chairman of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at Cleveland Clinic and recently rejoined the Penn faculty as Director of the Harron Lung Center.  

Dr. Kotloff has authored over 120 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters and has edited or co-edited six books. He currently serves as senior deputy editor of the Annals of the American Thoracic Society. Dr. Kotloff is the recipient of the American College of Chest Physicians College Medalist Award recognizing meritorious service in furthering work in chest medicine. He is also the recipient of the American Thoracic Society Outstanding Educator Award, which recognizes lifetime contributions in education and mentoring in the fields of pulmonary, critical care or sleep medicine. 

Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD 

Dr. Hammes received a B.A. in Chemistry from Cornell University, followed by an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology from Duke University.  Dr. Hammes then moved to the University of California in San Francisco, where he completed an internship and residency in General Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Endocrinology.  In 1999, Dr. Hammes joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where he was a W.W. Caruth Scholar in Biomedical Research. Dr. Hammes moved to the University of Rochester in 2009 to become the Louis S. Wolk Distinguished Professor of Medicine and the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. He currently also holds the position of Vice-Chair for Research and Academic Affairs.   Dr. Hammes is interested in steroid production and steroid signaling in female and male reproductive tracts as well as in steroid-sensitive tumors. He is interested in both the positive and negative effects of androgens in the ovary, with a focus on the pathophysiology and treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). In addition, Dr. Hammes studies how androgens and other signals promote prostate cancer proliferation. Finally, Dr. Hammes is interested in the origins and pathophysiology of lymphangioleiomyomatosis.  Dr. Hammes has been the Editor-in-Chief of the journals “Molecular Endocrinology” and “Endocrinology” and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.

 

Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD 

Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics/Natural Science with a Minor in Education from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND, followed by her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Medicine and Development Biology at the University of Cincinnati.  She then moved to Washington University in St. Louis, MO where she completed residency training in Pathology including a fellowship in laboratory research.  In 2003, Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp returned to Cincinnati where she developed her independent research program and clinical expertise in pulmonary pathology at the University of Cincinnati and Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms driving lung disease. She is also an avid teacher with multiple leadership roles in training physician scientists. Her commitment to excellence in education is recognized by 10 teaching awards. Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp became involved in LAM research shortly after returning to Cincinnati working closely with pulmonologists Drs. Frank McCormack and then Nishant Gupta to establish safe and effective approaches to LAM diagnosis, conduct research to further our understanding of LAM development and progression,  and establish clinical guidelines for LAM diagnosis and management.

She has served on the LAM Foundation Scientific Advisory Board since 2015 and evaluates grant proposals aimed to promote further advancements in our understanding of LAM and care of LAM patients. Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp is passionate about fully understanding lung disease in patients in the clinic and then using patient derived tissues and animal models to discover underlying mechanisms of disease to identify novel approaches to diagnose, predict outcomes and treat patients. Dr. Wikenheiser-Brokamp has extensive experience and enjoys working with multidisciplinary teams with different expertise and skill sets to advance clinical medicine. She is motivated by the patients she treats and strives to team with patients to advance discoveries with potential to improve the lives of patients and their families living with lung disease.

Mary Beth Brown, PT, PhD 

Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Division of Physical Therapy, at the University of Washington. Her research is focused on exercise responses in patients and rodent models of pulmonary disease. Her past research helped to establish exercise recommendations for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and cystic fibrosis.  

After attending The LAM Foundation Patient Benefit Conference in 2017, it became clear there was an urgent need for research on exercise and fatigue in LAM. Dr. Brown is currently leading a study to examine the impact of a home-based mobile health exercise program for patients with LAM, and to characterize skeletal muscle and skeletal muscle response to exercise in LAM.