The funds will be used to support research led by Jose D. Herazo-Maya, MD, USF Health’s newly appointed associate chief of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. Herazo-Maya is Ubben’s doctor.
Before stepping into his position at USF, Herazo-Maya discovered, along with colleagues at Yale, a blood gene signature that could be used to predict mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). He is now leading a team at USF Health, working on the development of a special blood test to assess the activity of certain genes as a way of identifying patients who are at risk of seeing their disease worsen.
The goal is to treat these individuals before that happens.
“Certain patients with lung scarring can live well for years while others develop disease exacerbations [flare-ups] and die quickly from the disease,” Herazo-Maya said. “Tim [Ubben] is intellectually curious and has good knowledge about medical research and clinical trials — I enjoy talking with him about science and ways to improve disease [treatments].”
Herazo-Maya already has started using Ubben’s gift to create the Ubben Family Pulmonary Research Laboratory at USF. The lab will be located in the new space of USF’s Health Heart Institute in downtown Tampa, Fla. A team of physicians, scientists, and biostatisticians is being assembled to work in the new lab.
“Mr. Ubben’s generous gift is providing hope and momentum in the fight against pulmonary disease,” said Jay Stroman, USF Foundation CEO. “The potential benefit this donor-funded research could have on health care systems everywhere is astounding.”