Meet the 2026 Awardee: Arianne K. Baldomero, MD, MS, ATSF
Arianne K. Baldomero, MD, MS, ATSF, is a pulmonologist, critical care physician, and health services researcher whose work focuses on improving care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly those facing geographic and structural barriers to high-quality care. She is a core investigator at the Minneapolis VA Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research and an attending physician in the Minneapolis VA Health Care System Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Section.
Dr. Baldomero has built a funded research program, beginning with an NIH K12 award and progressing to a highly competitive VA Career Development Award focused on redesigning COPD care delivery for rural Veterans. Her research examines how travel time and rural residence shape access to and quality of guideline-concordant COPD care, and how environmental exposures influence COPD-related health outcomes. She has published widely in high-impact journals and has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers, many as first or senior author, with her work recognized by multiple institutional and national awards for research excellence and peer review.
Dr. Baldomero is a committed educator and mentor and has received Outstanding Educator and Mentor awards for both specialty teaching and mentorship and has guided fellows and residents whose work has been recognized at national meetings. Within the American Thoracic Society, she is an engaged leader in the Clinical Problems Assembly, serving as Co-Chair of the ATS CP Early Career Working Group and as a member of the ATS Documents Development and Implementation Committee.
Dr. Baldomero’s current interests include developing proactive, team-based COPD care models for rural Veterans, advancing equity in access to evidence-based pulmonary care, and understanding how climate and environmental factors influence respiratory health. Through her research, mentorship, and service, she is advancing equitable, high-quality COPD care across diverse geographic settings.s.
Description:
The award will be given to an individual who has made outstanding scientific contributions in clinical, translational, or laboratory-based research relevant to Clinical Problems. This award is to recognize an individual who has made these contributions early in their career (Instructor or Assistant Professor level or at an equivalent rank). We encourage nomination of diverse nominees, including but not limited to gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, country, area of focus and primary occupation.
Award Presentation:
Awardees will be presented with a framed certificate during the annual Clinical Problems Membership Meeting at the ATS International Conference, during the Clinical Problems business meeting at which time the Chair of the Clinical Problems Assembly and Planning Committee chair will jointly present the award to the awardee. The awardee will have the opportunity to speak about what this award means to them. Awardees will also be announced on ATS platforms including the website and social media accounts. A letter of recognition will also be sent to the designated institutional leader.
Criteria:
- Nominee: Recipient must be a primary member of the Clinical Problems Assembly as this award seeks to highlight ATS members with direct and specific contributions to the ATS Clinical Problems Assembly.
- Must be at the Instructor or Assistant Professor level or at an equivalent rank.
- Nominator: Nominations can be submitted by any ATS member. Nominators who are not Clinical Problems Assembly members can submit nominations, as long as the nominee meets the qualifications above and the area of the nominee’s work matches the award goals.
- Application elements:
- The nomination package must include a letter from an ATS member describing why the applicant should receive this award.
- Nominee's curriculum vitae must also be included.
- Name, title and email address for nominee’s division chief, or other institutional leader who should be notified of this nomination and award, if selected.
- Scoring Metric(s): Applications will be reviewed by the Clinical Problems Planning Committee, utilizing a scoring scale ranking each of the following metrics:
- Nominee contributions to clinical, translational, or laboratory-based research relevant to Clinical Problems. (MAJOR CRITERION)
- Past, present or anticipated future contribution to the ATS Clinical Problems Assembly. (MAJOR CRITERION)
- Additional minor scoring criteria can include nominee characteristics such as efforts related to diversity/equity/inclusion or work/location in a low-to-middle income setting. Nominators are encouraged to highlight these and other unique characteristics of the nominee they would like the committee to consider.
- Repeat or carry over applications: Nominations for this award will not be carried over from prior years. A new application will need to be submitted in order for the same nominee to be considered for the same award during the next year's call for award nominations of application.