New York, NY, Sept. 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will award its 2025 Yergin-New International Prize for Biomedical Research to Michael J. Welsh, MD, of the University of Iowa for his pioneering work in cystic fibrosis (CF), which has significantly advanced understanding and treatment of this chronic, inherited lung disease with an onset in children.
This prize, formerly known as the Maria I. New International Prize for Biomedical Research, honors medical innovators who exemplify the values and dedication of the late Maria I. New, MD, a world-renowned researcher in pediatric genetic disorders who maintained special focus on endocrinology throughout her six-decade career. Dr. Welsh will receive a $50,000 award and will deliver the Maria I. New Distinguished Lecture during a ceremony to be held at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Dr. Welsh is Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where he also holds the Roy J. Carver Biomedical Research Chair. He directs both the Cystic Fibrosis Research Center and the Pappajohn Biomedical Institute.
His pioneering research revealed that cells lining CF bronchi lacked a chloride channel, providing a unifying theme for the disease and explaining the thick, sticky mucus that blocks the airways of people with CF. When the CF gene was discovered—cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)—his lab discovered that it forms an ion channel that provides a pathway for chloride to flow across the cell membrane into the airway. Thus, it helps control the movement of salt and water in and out of cells.
Dr. Welsh’s subsequent research helped reveal mechanisms by which mutations disrupt CFTR function, and he created a mutation classification system that has guided therapeutic development. His lab demonstrated that function of the most common disease-causing CFTR mutation, known as ΔF508, could be restored by reducing a cell’s incubation temperature. These discoveries and his donation of cell lines to pharmaceutical manufacturers and academic labs laid the foundation for development of drugs that have dramatically improved the lives of 90 percent of people with CF.
Building on this achievement, Dr. Welsh led development of a porcine model of CF, the first non-murine mammalian model of a disease generated through targeted gene modification. This model faithfully replicates key features of human CF, including lung disease, facilitating further research on CF and treatment. This has resulted in new therapies that are undergoing clinical trial.
“Michael Welsh’s research has been monumental both in advancing understanding of the genetic drivers of this disease and in accelerating the development of new life-saving treatments for people with CF,” said Mone Zaidi, MD, PhD, MACP, Director of Mount Sinai's Center for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, and Mount Sinai Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine.
“As the 2025 prize recipient, Dr. Welsh embodies the same qualities and dedication that Dr. New exemplified in her research,” said Lisa Satlin, MD, the Herbert H. Lehman Professor of Pediatrics and Chair of the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Pediatrician-in-Chief of Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. “We believe he will inspire a new generation of biomedical researchers just as Dr. New did over the course of her career.”
Dr. Welsh is continuing his groundbreaking research to further understand the mechanisms involved in CF and to identify new therapeutic targets that may lead to improved treatments. He has demonstrated that gene therapy is feasible as a treatment approach for CF and is addressing the barriers to providing this therapy to ensure it is safe, efficient, and effective for patients. Dr. Welsh is also focused on mentoring a new generation of researchers to build on his achievements, having trained more than 25 PhD graduate students, 15 MD-PhD students, and 52 MD and PhD postdoctoral fellows in his career.
“Biomedical research like that being conducted by Michael Welsh has the potential to benefit millions of patients around the world,” said Pulitzer Prize-winning author and economic historian Daniel Yergin, PhD, who, along with his wife, foreign policy expert Angela Stent, PhD, endows the prize. “He demonstrated the same commitment to advancing medical science as Dr. New did throughout her career, and we are pleased to recognize his achievements and great contribution with this award.”
“We are honored to host this annual biomedical research award at Mount Sinai, which recognizes Dr. New, who was one of our longest-serving faculty members,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Interim Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System. “This is a welcome opportunity for us to celebrate and uphold a legacy of innovation that spanned more than 60 years and reshaped research and clinical environments alike. Michael Welsh is one of many outstanding physician-scientists who are building on that legacy through their groundbreaking research, and we are delighted to present this award to him.”
The Yergin-New International Prize for Biomedical Research is administered by Mount Sinai’s Center for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, in conjunction with the Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Pharmacological Sciences, under the leadership of Dr. Zaidi. The winners are selected by an international jury of prominent scientists.
This years’s jury members were Nobel laureate Aaron Ciechanover, MD, DSc, Distinguished University Professor at The Rappaport Family Technion Integrated Cancer Center in Haifa, Israel; Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Boston Children’s Hospital; Bert W. O’Malley, MD, Tom Thompson Distinguished Service Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chancellor at Baylor College of Medicine; Jeffrey Friedman, MD, Marilyn M. Simpson Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at The Rockefeller University and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Anna Wedell, MD, PhD, Professor of Medical Genetics in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.
“We are grateful to the many outstanding members of the international jury who have committed both their time and expertise to review and select Dr. Welsh from this year’s exceptional group of nominees,” Dr. Zaidi said.
The Yergin-New International Prize for Biomedical Research
The Yergin-New International Prize for Biomedical Research was created to honor the esteemed career of Maria I. New, MD, now deceased, who was one of the world’s foremost pediatricians and a beloved member of the Mount Sinai community. The Prize is awarded annually to distinguished biomedical researchers for lifetime scientific achievements that have led, or may lead to, new ways to prevent and treat human disease. The award is generously endowed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and economic historian Daniel Yergin, PhD, and his wife, foreign policy expert Angela Stent, PhD. The nomination cycle for the 2026 Prize begins on February 1, 2026, and closes on May 31, 2026. To learn more about the nomination process, contact Susan Babunovic at susan.babunovic@mssm.edu.
Over the past half-century, Maria I. New, MD, earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading pediatric endocrinologists. Her studies of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)—a deficiency in the adrenal system that causes gender ambiguity in females and precocious sexual development in males—have led to treatments to correct the disorder before the baby is born. Her groundbreaking identification of a new form of hypertension, “apparent mineralocorticoid excess,” has resulted in a new area of receptor biology. After joining the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City in 2004, Dr. New continued her work as a Professor of Pediatrics, and Genetics and Genomic Sciences. She was also the Founding Director of Mount Sinai’s Adrenal Steroid Disorders Program. As a member of the National Academy of Sciences, among several other prestigious academies, Dr. New demonstrated a lifetime dedication to biomedical research and clinical care, and her training of a generation of pediatricians and endocrinologists continues to have a far-reaching impact on the lives of patients and the medical community at large.
About the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is internationally renowned for its outstanding research, educational, and clinical care programs. It is the sole academic partner for the seven member hospitals* of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the United States, providing care to New York City’s large and diverse patient population.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers highly competitive MD, PhD, MD-PhD, and master’s degree programs, with enrollment of more than 1,200 students. It has the largest graduate medical education program in the country, with more than 2,600 clinical residents and fellows training throughout the Health System. Its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers 13 degree-granting programs, conducts innovative basic and translational research, and trains more than 560 postdoctoral research fellows.
Ranked 11th nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is among the 99th percentile in research dollars per investigator according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. More than 4,500 scientists, educators, and clinicians work within and across dozens of academic departments and multidisciplinary institutes with an emphasis on translational research and therapeutics. Through Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), the Health System facilitates the real-world application and commercialization of medical breakthroughs made at Mount Sinai.
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