Meet the 2026 Awardee: Alessandra Adami, PhD, MS, BSc
Alessandra Adami, PhD, MS, BSc is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, College of Health Sciences, at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Adami received a Master of Science degree from the University of Verona, where she also obtained her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Science of Physical Exercise and Human Movement. Following her doctoral studies, she completed two postdoctoral fellowships. The first in human exercise physiology at the Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva; and the second in pulmonary physiology in the Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Physiology and Medicine, at The Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles California.
Dr. Adami has been a member of the ATS and of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) Assembly since 2013. She served the PR assembly as a member of the Early Career Professional Working Group (2017 to 2022), Nominating Committee (2023 to 2024), Planning Committee (2023 to present). Dr Adami has been the PR Assembly liaison for the PhD and Basic Translational Science (PBTS) Working Group since 2020 and still active in this role, fostering the engagement of non-clinician researchers in activities within the Assembly and across the ATS. In addition, she served as a mentor for the ATS Mentoring Program (2019-2024), and since 2025 she is one of the faculties for the New Faculty Boot Camp (NFBC) PhD Scientists track.
Dr. Adami’s research focuses primarily on understanding the etiology and association of secondary clinical manifestations (e.g., skeletal muscle dysfunction, physical inactivity, cognitive dysfunction) in people with chronic lung diseases. In 2018, she was awarded the ATS Foundation Unrestricted Grant in Pulmonary (ATS-2018-11) to collect pilot data elucidating the 5-year progression of muscle dysfunction and inactivity in patients with COPD. The project led to her current work supported by NHLBI (R01 HL151452) aiming to identify the longitudinal changes in locomotor muscle function, and determine the epigenetic and transcriptomic differences within skeletal muscle in smokers with and without COPD. Recently, Dr. Adami has expanded her research focus to patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and post-ICU ARDS survivors, with two federally funded pilot studies to characterize skeletal muscle and functional impairments in these populations.n.
Description
This award is given to a PR Assembly member (primary or secondary) who has recognized scientific contribution(s) to the principles and practice of pulmonary rehabilitation and demonstrated meaningful contribution(s) to the PR Assembly activities. Relevant research contributions may include but are not limited to: program structure, program content, outcomes or outcome measures, skeletal muscle dysfunction, exercise training, adjuncts to exercise training, mechanisms underlying benefits of PR, education, self- management, health-enhancing behavior change, social or psychological support, knowledge translation and program accreditation. Applicants may have previously received an Early Career Research Achievement Award.
Criteria
At time of submission nominees must be between 10 - 20 years from date of highest research degree, or, if no research degree, from date of first faculty appointment (career disruption will be considered). If applicable, there needs to be at least 5 years since the nominee received the Early Career Research Achievement Award.
Proposers must submit a nomination package including:
- Details and confirmation of the nominee’s status as a primary or secondary member of the PR Assembly
- Date of conferral of doctoral level degree
- Date of first faculty appointment (if applicable)
- A one-page letter from a primary member of the Assembly describing the nominee’s contributions (including to the Assembly/ATS) and why the award is appropriate
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae, including details of career disruption where relevant.
Applications will be scored on the basis of the details provided in the submitted nomination.
Awards will only be given where suitable candidates are nominated.