Clinical Advisory Board

Dr. Francesco Bonella is Head of the Outpatients Clinic for Interstitial and Rare Lung Disease and Assistant Professor at the Ruhrlandklinik University Hospital, Essen, Germany. After receiving his M.D. and board certification at the University of Verona, Italy, he earned his international Ph.D. in Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs) at the University of Essen. Dr. Bonella’s research interests include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), alveolar proteinosis, rheumatic-associated ILDs, and sarcoidosis with a special focus on biomarkers, genetic predisposition and applications of bronchoalveolar lavage. In recent years, he has acted as an investigator for major clinical trials in IPF, sarcoidosis, and alveolar proteinosis. He is reviewer for numerous scientific journals and has authored many chapters in textbooks, original articles, case reports, editorials, and reviews. Dr. Bonella co-founded EuPAPNet, the European Network for Alveolar Proteinosis, and the European Reference Network (ERN)-Lung, leading the ILD core network. He is a member of several scientific societies and is the Elected Chair (he previously served as Secretary) of the European Respiratory Society ERS Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease (DPLD).

Dr. Yoshikazu Inoue is Executive Director at the Clinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Kinki-Chuo Chest Medical Center in Osaka, Japan, and an invited Professor of the Infection, Immunology, and Oncology Cooperating Course, Graduate School, at Osaka University. He studied granulomatous lung diseases during graduate school, and mucin-like glycoproteins when he was an Assistant Professor at Ehime University in Matsuyama, Japan. Previously, he studied granulomatous lung diseases and pulmonary fibrosis at the National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Inoue’s institute is one of the leading hospitals and research centers for chest diseases, and an important referral center for inflammatory lung diseases in Japan. In addition to their clinical practice, his team is engaged in domestic and international multicenter trials and in basic clinical research. He is a member of the Japan Society of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders (JSSOG), the Japanese Respiratory Society, the Asian Pacific Society Chapter of the Fleischner Society, Respirology (APSR), American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society, World Association of Sarcoidosis and other Granulomatous Disorders (WASOG), and others. Dr. Inoe has served in various capacities in these societies, including Board Member, member of the Executive Committee, Secretary, and Trustee. He has been a WASOG Executive Committee Member since 2011. Dr. Inoue is, and has been, involved in the development of several international guidelines, global clinical trials of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), in addition to acting as an adviser to numerous patient societies and foundations for interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) and PAP.

Dr. Cormac McCarthy is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University College Dublin (UCD), Consultant Respiratory Physician at St. Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, Ireland and runs the Rare Lung Disease Referral Centre for Ireland. Dr. McCarthy is a clinician scientist with an interest in the pathogenesis of rare lung diseases and interstitial lung disease. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), with an Honors degree in Medicine. He completed higher specialist training through the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) and was awarded a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Specialist Training by the Irish Committee on Higher Specialist Training (Respiratory and General Internal Medicine). Dr. McCarthy completed a Ph.D. in Medicine at RCSI and continued post-graduate training at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where he completed an ACGME-accredited Clinical Fellowship in Genetic Pulmonary Disease and continued his training there as a Rare Lung Disease Scholar. While studying, his primary research areas were on the molecular mechanisms of lung disease, using the pathogenesis approach to develop new therapies. Dr. McCarthy has a strong interest in all lung diseases, with a focus on interstitial lung disease, rare lung diseases, and cystic lung disease syndromes. He focuses on the molecular pathogenesis of lung disease with an interest in glycobiology of plasma proteins, cholesterol homeostasis in macrophages, and lipidomics in the lung. His translational research has contributed to the understanding of the pathogenesis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), development of novel therapeutic targets, and the epidemiology of this syndrome. Additionally, Dr. McCarthy’s research has highlighted the use of appropriate diagnostic tests for these rare diseases and investigated the use of novel radiological analyses to monitor disease progression. His current research is investigating the role of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in macrophage lipid homeostasis in the pathogenesis of PAP and other interstitial lung disease and identifying novel therapeutic targets for this rare disease.

Dr. Trapnell is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, Director of the Translational Pulmonary Science Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), Co-director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences-National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NCATS-NHLBI) Rare Lung Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (RLDC), and Scientific Director of the Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Foundation. After receiving degrees in biochemistry, genetics, and medicine, and specialty training in internal and pulmonary medicine, Dr. Trapnell first served as Staff Physician at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While continuing as senior staff physician at NIH (as a special volunteer), he established the Division of Virology and Pulmonary Studies at Genetic Therapy Inc./Novartis and served as Vice President. In 1997, he moved to Cincinnati where he has maintained continuous NIH funding for research and training programs focused on the development of molecular pathogenesis-based diagnostics and therapeutics for rare lung diseases, including pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), cystic fibrosis (CF), alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), and others. As Director of the Cincinnati CF Therapeutics Development Network Center for more than a decade, Dr. Trapnell led numerous clinical trials, including those resulting in FDA-approval of Creon^® and Pancreaze^® as a therapy for CF. He also participated as Co-Investigator in the RLDC-based trial resulting in FDA-approval of Sirolimus^® as a therapy for LAM. His group helped determine the pathogenesis of autoimmune PAP, identified and developed a novel cell therapy for hereditary PAP (pulmonary macrophage transplantation), and established commercial tests for the specific diagnosis of PAP-causing diseases. Also, an ardent patient advocate, Dr. Trapnell has worked closely with multiple patient foundations including those for CF, PAP, AATD, LAM, childhood interstitial lung disease, and others.

Dr. Tisha Wang is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she serves as the Senior Executive Clinical Vice Chair for the Department of Medicine (DOM). She is board-certified in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. In her role, she provides clinical care in the intensive care unit and pulmonary clinic. Previously, Dr. Wang was the UCLA Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellowship Program Director for 10 years until 2021 and served as Clinical Chief of the UCLA Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep Medicine, Allergy and Immunology until early 2023, overseeing a large faculty practice that spent a large amount of time battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Wang catalyzed the formation of the UCLA DOM Wellness Committee in 2021 to focus on physician well-being and retention, after noticing the effects of the pandemic on an already burned-out workforce. In 2020, she was honored as the recipient of the UCLA Sherman Melinkoff Award, which recognizes the “finest in doctor-patient relationships and medical education” and is considered to be the highest honor of the UCLA SOM. Dr. Wang has also been the recipient of multiple awards, both locally and nationally, and was chosen as the California Thoracic Society “Woman of the Year” in 2022.

In addition to her clinical work and leadership responsibilities, Dr. Wang conducts research on a rare lung disease called pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP). She is the Clinical Director and Vice President of the patient-based PAP Foundation. Dr. Wang also serves as Chair of the Education Committee for the American Thoracic Society and is President-Elect of the California Thoracic Society. In addition to championing the well-being of physicians, her greatest joys in medicine have been focused on advocacy for women in medicine, medical educators, and patients with rare lung disease.