Meet the 2025 Award Winner: Ali Önder Yildirim, DVM, PhD
Ali Önder Yildirim, DVM, PhD earned his doctoral degree at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, where he completed his thesis on the phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Streptococcus agalactiae. He pursued postdoctoral training in chronic airway disease research at Philipps-University of Marburg and later at the University Hospital Giessen & Marburg.
Since 2009, Dr. Yildirim has led the "Immunopathology of COPD" group at the Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC) of Helmholtz Zentrum München. He has held successive leadership roles, including Director of the Institute for Lung Biology and Disease (ILBD) and, since 2022, Director of the Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI). In 2023, he was appointed Professor and Director of the Institute of Experimental Pneumology at Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich, and in 2024, became Director of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) site CPC-Munich.
Dr. Yildirim’s research focuses on the immunopathology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung transplantation, and lung regeneration, with notable contributions in B cell biology, arginine methylation, and ferroptosis in chronic lung diseases. Notably, his work has been central to the growing recognition that B cell-driven adaptive immune activation is crucial in orchestrating tissue destruction in chronic lung diseases such as COPD and lung transplantation. His group is credited with reigniting interest in the role of B cell-driven inducible bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue (iBALT) in COPD.
In particular, Dr. Yildirim’s team discovered that lymphotoxin-signaling, essential for iBALT formation in COPD, impairs the developmental Wnt/β-catenin pathway via NIK-dependent non-canonical NFκB signaling. Crucially, therapeutic inhibition of this pathway reinitiated endogenous Wnt/β-catenin-driven alveolar lung regeneration, opening novel avenues for regenerative therapies in chronic lung disease.
Dr. Yildirim is also the founder of the Advanced COPD Research Network – COPD-iNET, an established international network dedicated to advancing translational COPD research. This network provides a platform for discussing ongoing projects, cutting-edge humanized models, state-of-the-art systems biology approaches, and clinical cohorts. The consortium actively seeks synergies to facilitate the discovery of novel disease mechanisms and new therapeutic horizons in COPD. Results from ongoing collaborative projects are regularly presented within this network, strengthening global efforts in COPD research.
He has authored over 165 peer-reviewed publications and holds several patents in novel lung disease therapeutics. Dr. Yildirim actively serves on editorial boards including Allergy and Frontiers in Immunology, and is a member of leading international respiratory societies including ERS and ATS.
Committed to mentoring, Dr. Yildirim has supervised a generation of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, fostering careers in translational lung research. He maintains numerous international collaborations and continues to lead multicenter projects exploring immune and regenerative mechanisms in lung diseases.
Description
The RCMB Assembly serves as a vibrant hub for its diverse membership across the globe, thus enhancing the respiratory science community. This award will recognize an RCMB member with a primary appointment outside of the United States or Canada who has an established record of cutting-edge high impact research that contributes to the understanding and treatment of lung diseases coupled with service within the Assembly and a commitment to the RCMB mission“to promote the long-range goal of the ATS to decrease morbidity and mortality from respiratory disorders and life-threatening acute illnesses through an improved understanding of the biological basis of lung disease”. The inaugural award presented, honours Geoff Laurent, Ph.D. and Tomoko Betsuyaku M.D., whose passion for knowledge, service to our community and impact on our understanding of the biological basis of lung disease inspired its creation.
Criteria
The nominee:
- must have a current primary appointment outside of the United States or Canada
- should have performed the majority of their research outside of the United States or Canada
- should have an excellent track record of international collaborations and service to the RCMB Assembly
- should have demonstrated mentorship for a diversity of mentees
- must be a RCMB member (primary or secondary)
- must attend the ATS International Conference and be present at the RCMB Membership Meeting
Guidelines for submitting a nomination
A nomination must include:
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae
- A 2-3 page narrative discussing the impact of the nominee’s research program on an understanding of the biological basis of lung disease and the nominee’s service contributions to RCMB.
- One nomination letter supported by the signatures of 3-5 investigators who attest to the impact of the nominee on the RCMB mission.
Scoring metric weight
- 1x - Scientific Contributions/Products
- 1x - 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