Clinical Interests
Thomas Ferkol, MD is the Alexis Hartmann Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology, and Director of the multidisciplinary Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Ferkol graduated from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1981, and he received his M.D. degree from the Ohio State University College of Medicine (Columbus, Ohio) in 1985. He was a pediatric resident at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1985-1988), where he also served as Chief Resident and Clinical Instructor (1988-1989). Dr. Ferkol returned to Case Western Reserve University in 1989 for fellowship training in pediatric pulmonology, and subsequently joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve University and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. Dr. Ferkol moved to Washington University School of Medicine in 2000, where he is currently Director of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonary Medicine. He is the past director of the comprehensive Washington University Cystic Fibrosis Center, and directed premier clinical and research programs in cystic fibrosis. The Center is a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Development Network. An American Lung Association Edward Livingston Trudeau Scholar and recipient of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) LeRoy Matthew’s Physician-Scientist Award, his research has focused on characterizing genetic and molecular factors that contribute to lung disease in cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary dyskinesia. With past and continued support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), CFF, and March of Dimes, Dr. Ferkol and his collaborators are studying the origins and potential therapeutic targets for these inherited airway diseases. He is an investigator for the NIH-supported Genetic Diseases of Mucociliary Clearance Consortium, and has assembled clinical, biomedical, and engineering research collaborative at Washington University, studying the genetic and phenotypic spectrum of ciliopathies. He is also co-principal investigator on a NIH-funded program that is examining adverse respiratory outcomes in children with chronic lung disease related to prematurity. Dr. Ferkol has been an active member of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), serving as the chair of the Scientific Assembly on Pediatrics and chair of its program committee. He was recently installed as president of the ATS, only the second pediatrician in the 110 years of the Society. He has been a member of several scientific review groups, including the NIH Gene and Drug Delivery Study Section, ATS Career Development Grants Review Committee, CFF Research Development Program Review Committee and CFF Functional Genomics Review Committee. Finally, he serves as a member of the American Board of Pediatrics Subboard of Pediatric Pulmonology.