By Jill Pease
In honor of exceptional contributions to the field of respiratory science, David Fuller, Ph.D., associate dean for research and a professor of physical therapy at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, has been awarded the Julius H. Comroe Jr. Distinguished Lectureship by the Respiration Section of the American Physiological Society.
Fuller presented his lecture, titled “The Fundamental Importance of Basic Science for Understanding and Treating Respiratory Neuromuscular Disease,” during the society’s annual summit, held April 24-27 in Baltimore.
“The Comroe Lectureship is a prestigious award reserved for a select group of faculty members with a distinguished and enduring research program and demonstrated leadership in their field,” said nominator Gordon Mitchell, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and physical therapy and director of the UF Breathing Research and Therapeutics, or BREATHE, Center. “David Fuller meets that metric and delivered a translation-oriented lecture, deeply founded in physiology, that satisfied old-time physiologists while inspiring younger generations.”
Fuller is internationally recognized for his studies developing new treatments for diseases that impair the ability to breathe. As part of that work, he also focuses on understanding how the brain and spinal cord control the respiratory muscles. His research has been continuously funded since 2003 and he currently serves as the principal investigator on two National Institutes of Health-funded grants focused on rehabilitation after spinal cord injury and developing gene therapy approaches for Pompe disease.
A feature story in the current issue of the American Physiological Society’s Respiration Section newsletter highlights Fuller’s many scientific advancements, including his discoveries in Pompe disease: “His work has redefined our knowledge of Pompe disease, demonstrating for the first time that this disease goes beyond muscle and heart pathology (formerly regarded as one of the ‘muscular dystrophies’). He provided compelling evidence that it also attacks and kills respiratory motor neurons in both rodent models and humans with spontaneous disease.”
Fuller was named a Fellow of the American Physiological Society in 2023 and has served as a member of the respiration awards committee and chair of the section programming committee.
He has twice been awarded both the UF Preeminence Term Professorship and the UF Research Foundation Professorship. His UF leadership roles also include associate director of the BREATHE Center, and director of the T32 Neuromuscular Plasticity Training program.
