Lael Yonker, M.D.

Biography

Lael Yonker, M.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She serves as Chief of its Division of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine and Medical Director of the Children’s Pulmonary Translational Research Center. Dr. Yonker also holds the Pogue Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Pulmonology Medicine. She specializes in pediatric pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis.

Dr. Yonker earned her medical degree at the University of Massachusetts. She completed a residency in pediatrics and received advanced training through a pediatric pulmonary fellowship, both at Mass General Brigham.

Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2025. She previously was a faculty member at Mass General Brigham, where she was director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center, co-director of the Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutic Development Center, co-director of the Pulmonary Genetics Program, and principal investigator for the Pediatric COVID-19 Biorepository.

As a physician-scientist, Dr. Yonker integrates clinical pulmonary care with translational research to improve outcomes for children with complex respiratory disease. Her work bridges mechanistic studies in patient‑derived samples with hypothesis‑driven clinical trials to identify and interrupt maladaptive inflammatory pathways. The goal of her scientific program is to define infection-driven mechanisms that lead to airway and systemic disease in children and leverage these insights to develop targeted therapies.

Dr. Yonker contributes to national and international medical leadership through service with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the American Thoracic Society. She has contributed foundational insights into post–COVID‑19 inflammatory syndromes, co‑invented a diagnostic method for a monocytic biomarker used to identify COVID‑19-related illness, and patented therapeutic strategies for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

In 2024, she earned the Emerging Leader Award from the National Academy of Medicine.

Personal Note

When she’s not at work, Dr. Yonker enjoys spending time with family, cheering on her children at their sports events, exploring the outdoors, watching hockey, and trying new restaurants.