Chief Scientific Advisor, Lester Kobzik, MD

Lester Kobzik is a professor emeritus of Pathology at the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. His research interests center on lung disease and how the lung defends itself against inhaled toxic and infectious challenges. His work has characterized scavenger receptors on lung macrophages and how they function to remove potentially harmful if inhaled particulates and bacteria. He is also actively engaged in studies of infectious agents, including use of functional genomic screening to identify novel pathways and therapeutic leads. He has authored over 300 research publications in the area of lung pathobiology and has served on numerous grant and scientific review panels for the NIH, EPA and other research organizations.

Dr. Kobzik received his undergraduate degree and medical degree from Tufts University. He completed residency training in anatomic pathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, then joined the faculty there and at the Harvard Medical and Public Health Schools.