When Joseph Zabner arrived in Iowa for his fellowship in pulmonary disease research, he didn’t plan to stay long.
That was 33 years ago.
“I fell in love with the people,” Zabner says.
Originally from Venezuela, Zabner has had an impressive career as a physician-scientist. In the early 1990s, he led the first human gene therapy trials for cystic fibrosis using a modified adenovirus. In June 2020, he co-led a UI Health Care team that established one of the nation’s first clinics for patients experiencing ongoing symptoms of COVID-19. He served as director of the pulmonary, critical care, and occupational medicine division in the UI Department of Internal Medicine from 2010 through 2021. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, and American Clinical and Climatological Association.