Meet the 2026 Awardee: Daniel J. Tschumperlin, PhD
Daniel Tschumperlin, Ph.D., is Professor and Vice Chair of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with a joint appointment in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Tschumperlin earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Rice University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Bioengineering at University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Mayo Clinic Dr. Tschumperlin was a postdoctoral fellow and then faculty member at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has been a member of the ATS since 1998 and has served the RCMB assembly as a member of the Program Committee (2009 to 2012) and will serve as Assembly Chair beginning in 2026.
At Mayo, Dr. Tschumperlin directs the Tissue Repair and Mechanobiology Laboratory, leading a multidisciplinary team focused on lung injury, fibrosis and repair, with a particular interest in fibroblast and matrix biology, mechanical signaling, and molecular approaches to fibrosis resolution. In addition, he co-directs an NIH funded T32 program focused on Translational Training in Respiratory Disease and Repair. Beyond Mayo he previously served as member (2015 to 2018) and chair (2018 to 2020) of the Lung Injury, Repair and Remodeling NIH Study Section, and as co-chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Lung Development, Injury and Repair (2019 to 2021).
Criteria
- Have mentored 5 or more individuals who have since completed their training with the nominee
- Must be an RCMB Assembly member (primary or secondary)
- Nominations may be submitted by either the nominee (self-nomination) or others.
- Nomination must include:
- Nominee’s curriculum vitae
- A 1-page narrative outlining the reasons for the nomination
- One nomination letter supported by the signatures of 3-5 mentees.
- The letter of support must:
- Detail summary of the mentee’s current job (position/title)
- Explain how the nominee helped them with the mentee’s career development
Scoring metric weight
- 1x - Scientific Contributions/Products
- 3x- Teaching/Mentoring/Educational Contributions
- 1x - Participation in Assembly and ATS Activities (administrative, committees, workshops etc.)
- 1x - Overall impact/impression of dossier submitted for award application