Researchers Unplugged: Meet the Researcher Working to Detect Lung Disease Before It Starts
Mass General Brigham is home to a research community of thousands of individuals working to understand disease and develop solutions to medicine’s most pressing challenges.
But who are they? And what do they do when they’re not conducting research? Learn more about them in the Researchers Unplugged series!
From clinical research coordinators to postdoctoral fellows, research technicians, graduate students and principal investigators—they are all part of research at Mass General Brigham.
Our next guest in the series is Laura Fernandez Wever, MD!
1. What lab do you work in and what is your role?
I'm a postdoctoral research fellow in the Hunninghake Lab in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Mass General Brigham.
Laura Fernandez Wever, MD
Our research focuses on finding the earliest signs of pulmonary fibrosis in family members of affected patients, giving us a unique opportunity to understand the disease before it becomes clinically apparent and, hopefully, change its course.
2. Can you explain your research in layperson's terms?
We study the close relatives of people with pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that scars the lungs.
By looking at their genes and imaging their lungs, we can identify very early changes and understand who may be at higher risk of developing the disease.
Our group is also part of the first global multicenter trial of a drug called nerandomilast for people who have early lung abnormalities and a family history of pulmonary fibrosis. The goal is to intervene before significant damage occurs, rather than trying to treat the disease after it has progressed.
If I were explaining it to an eight-year-old, I'd say: "Our lab studies the earliest stages of a disease that makes lungs stiff, and we look at genes to understand why it runs in some families."
3. When and why did you get interested in this work?
Early in my career, I saw firsthand how devastating respiratory diseases can be while working in tuberculosis care.
That experience taught me that timing is everything. Catching a disease early and choosing the right treatment approach can completely change the course of a person's illness.
What keeps me motivated today is meeting people who have watched a parent or sibling slowly lose their breath to pulmonary fibrosis and who now wonder what it means for their own future. Those conversations remind me why we need better therapies and, just as importantly, why we need to find people at risk earlier.
4. What do you do outside of the lab?
I'm a foodie and love exploring restaurants around Boston. I'm also a serious oyster enthusiast, you'll often find me at Black Lamb or Eventide.
If you're looking for the best oyster deals in the city, I'm happy to share recommendations.
5. What is your favorite TV show, podcast, book or movie?
Inception. I love how it blends action with philosophy, exploring the nature of reality, perception and the power of our own thoughts. It's the kind of movie that stays with you long after it ends and always gives you something new to think about.
6. What's a fun fact about yourself?
I was a volunteer firefighter in Venezuela for more than 10 years, and I spent a full year living in the Amazon reserve while working as a physician.
7. What do you like most about conducting research at Mass General Brigham?
I love seeing an idea evolve into something tangible and meaningful. Something that initially feels distant or even impossible can eventually become real science that advances our understanding of disease. Watching that process unfold is incredibly rewarding.
8. If you had to compare your Principal Investigator to a fictional character, who would it be?
I would compare my PI, Gary Hunninghake, MD, to Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's calm, patient, and always a few steps ahead. The comparison is especially fitting because when the first effective antifibrotic therapies reached patients, he titled his New England Journal of Medicine editorial "A New Hope for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis" and closed it by saying that the Force was finally with the field, and that we should learn to use it wisely.
He's the one teaching us how.
9. If you could only eat one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Oysters. I know they're controversial, but I stand by it.
10. What's your favorite way to spend a weekend?
At the beach.
It's Your Turn to Shine!
Do you work in research at Mass General Brigham? Are you willing to provide short written answers to 10-ish fun questions about you and your science? Then you (yes, you) could be the next star of Researchers Unplugged.