Meet the 2026 Awardees: Alicia N. Rizzo, MD, PhD & Scott J. Denstaedt, MD
Alicia N. Rizzo, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and an attending physician in the medical ICU at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian. Dr. Rizzo pursued her MD/PhD training at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She completed her PhD in the laboratory of Drs. Joe G.N. Garcia and Steven Dudek, where she investigated mechanisms of endothelial cytoskeleton regulation of pulmonary vascular permeability. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado. She carried out her post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Schmidt. Her work focused on the role of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx, a layer of glycosaminoglycans that lines airways, in lung injury. She discovered that degradation of the alveolar epithelial glycocalyx occurs in a subset of patients with ARDS and is associated with substantially worse outcomes. Complementary mechanistic studies demonstrated that this is due to surfactant dysfunction. This work was published as a first-author manuscript in JCI Insight.
Dr. Rizzo is now a Principal Investigator within the Acute Lung Injury and Infection Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh. Her independent laboratory is focused on developing glycan-targeted precision medicine strategies for critical illness. Her current projects aim to 1) elucidate the mechanisms by which glycocalyx degradation impairs surfactant function, 2) determine the impact of glycocalyx degradation on physiology and outcomes in ARDS, and 3) develop rapid diagnostics to identify the subgroup of patients most likely to benefit from glycan-targeted therapies. Dr. Rizzo’s excellence as an early career investigator has been recognized with multiple awards including the ASCI’s Emerging Generation Award (2022) and Young Physician Scientist Award (2025). Her work is supported by an NIH/NHLBI K08, a Parker B. Francis Foundation fellowship, and institutional funding.
Scott J. Denstaedt, MD is an Assistant Professor and physician-scientist in the Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine at the University of Michigan (U-M). He is also the director of the U-M Critical Illness Biorepository for translational studies on the acute and recovery phases of critical illness. He is otherwise dedicated to patient care in the pulmonary clinic and intermediate care wards. He graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine and completed Internal Medicine and chief residency training at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. He subsequently pursued Pulmonary/Critical Care fellowship training at U-M.
Dr. Denstaedt’s translational research program began to identify novel pathways through which immune reprogramming after hospitalization for sepsis mediates poor outcomes, particularly new respiratory failure and brain dysfunction. He demonstrated that danger signal proteins are persistently elevated in the brains of humans and mice surviving sepsis and drive aberrant immune phenotypes in brain macrophage. In addition, he identified a novel monocyte phenotype that predisposes mice surviving sepsis toward enhanced lung injury responses. This recent discovery has led to a shift in investigative focus on how the hematopoietic origins of distinct monocytes subsets dictate functional outcomes in acute lung injury. These insights have earned him recognition within the sepsis and ARDS research communities. His research has been supported by NIH/NHLBI via T32, F32, and K08 awards. He is also a co-investigator on an ARDS, Pneumonia, and Sepsis (APS) Consortium U01 project grant for clinical phenotyping of critical illness syndromes. His work has received abstract awards from the American Thoracic Society and he has been invited to present his work at national and international ARDS conferences. He is an active peer reviewer for study sections and prominent journals.
Description
This recognition will be awarded to Early-Stage Investigators (ESI) in the Instructor to Assistant Professor rank who demonstrate a sustained commitment to develop a productive academic career with focus on areas covered by the RCMB Assembly. This additional RCMB award intends to acknowledge the need for increased recognition of meritorious efforts of ESI by our assembly, expanding the existent Rising Stars and the Carol Basbaum Awards.
Awards per year: 2
Criteria
- Instructor or Assistant Professor appointment effective on the date of the award
- In possession of/applying for a Career Development award (NIH K award or foundation award equivalent in years of support/cost, provide application number)
- Attended ATS International Conference at least once and holds RCMB membership for >1 year
- One letter of recommendation with signatures from 3-5 supporters. At least one from an RCMB member. Letters should address the nominee’s scientific contributions, mentoring/teaching/educational contributions, and ATS participation
- Updated CV and NIH Biosketch
- Does not require a scientific abstract
- Both U.S. based and international scientists are eligible to apply
- The awardee must be present at the ATS International Conference
Awards and Recognition
- Assignment as panel member in RCMB mini symposia for the following ATS IC cycle
- Names of the awardee will be placed in an RCMB database for preferred apprentice reviewers for ATS journals.
- Announcement on ATS RCMB webpage and an announcement at the RCMB membership meeting.