Stefano Guerra selected as Fulbright scholar

Stefano Guerra, MD, PhD, MPH, a professor at both the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the Henry E. Dahlberg Endowed Chair in Pulmonary Medicine, has been named a 2025 Fulbright scholar.

Guerra, who is also the Director of the Population Science Unit at the Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and a member of the BIO5 Institute, is one of seven U of A faculty members selected for the program. Priscilla Magrath, PhD, a senior lecturer at the Zuckerman College of Public Health, received the Fulbright Scholar Teaching Award.

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A leading expert in the natural history and biomarkers of obstructive lung diseases, Guerra will conduct research identifying early life predictors of adult lung disease in Sweden using data from a group of more than 4,000 Swedish children born from 1994 to 1996. The main goal, he said, is to identify events, biomarkers and exposures that take place early in life — even in utero — that set the stage for lung diseases that develop decades later. He’ll work alongside scientists he’s been collaborating with for about 15 years.

Guerra, who will be in Sweden from August until January, said the Fulbright grant is a “perfectly timed opportunity to expand interactions and collaborations with other groups in Europe that are tackling the very same research issues we are working on here in Tucson and to foster a consortium or alliance of multiple epidemiological cohorts from these groups.”

“I am deeply appreciative of this grant because of the values the Fulbright Program represents, centered around collaboration, cultural bridging and scientific exchange. These values embody a key part of the future of science itself,” he said.

Michael M.I. Abecassis, MD, MBA, the Inaugural Humberto and Czarina Lopez Endowed Dean of the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson and a member of the BIO5 Institute, said Guerra’s honor is well-deserved.

“We are excited and proud that Dr. Guerra received a Fulbright award,” Abecassis said. “It’s an acknowledgement of the cutting-edge research Stefano has been doing for years. It’s a valuable opportunity for him to continue the work he’s been doing with the Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center to provide valuable insights into a pressing health challenge that has a global impact.”

Guerra said he hopes his work will result in actionable strategies that help children with reduced lung function regain full levels of functioning before they become adults and protect them from developing lung diseases decades later. Investigators from the U of A Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center have been shaping how pulmonary disease is studied for more than 50 years. 

“The center has played a key role in shaping thoughts on this topic and providing opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations,” Guerra said. “This Fulbright project continues along this path as I aim to strengthen existing collaborations and work toward advancing a consortium of study populations and leading scientists from diverse geographic regions.

“As we work to understand what drives the development of lung diseases such as asthma and COPD, the scientific questions that we face are becoming increasingly more complex. I am convinced these large-scale international alliances will become critical to address such complexity and will play a more central role in advancing this field of research.”

The Fulbright Program, which is overseen by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, supports U.S. scholars conducting research or teaching abroad for up to a year. The U of A had its first Fulbright scholar in 1954. Since then, the university has had more than 300 Fulbright scholars representing it at institutions around the world.