Rate My Professor Jennifer Bomberger

Jennifer M. Bomberger is the Philip J. Hanlon Second Century Professor in Personalized Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. A Pennsylvania native, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and subsequently worked at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, now GlaxoSmithKline, during her early training. Bomberger obtained her PhD in Cellular Physiology from Michigan State University, focusing her doctoral research on intracellular protein trafficking in the kidney. She then completed postdoctoral training at Dartmouth Medical School under Bruce Stanton, where she shifted her expertise to host-pathogen interactions and protein trafficking within the respiratory tract. In 2010, while at Dartmouth, she received the Young Investigator Basic Science Award at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference.

Bomberger established her independent research program in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, rising through the ranks to full Professor, Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cystic Fibrosis Research Development Program, and Vice Chair of Graduate Education. In 2022, she returned to Dartmouth with her research team to continue her investigations into viral-bacterial and polymicrobial interactions in the respiratory tract. Her laboratory examines the interplay between bacterial and viral pathogens, particularly in chronic lung diseases like cystic fibrosis. Current studies elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which innate immune responses induce biofilm growth in the lung, with a focus on chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections that severely impact cystic fibrosis patients. Employing live-cell imaging, microbiological assays, cell biology techniques, and advanced genomics, her team translates bench research to clinical applications through collaborations with physicians in Otolaryngology and Pulmonary Medicine, studying viral-bacterial dynamics in patient upper and lower respiratory tracts. As Principal Investigator and Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Research Development Program at Dartmouth, Bomberger leads efforts to identify novel therapeutic targets to disrupt persistent biofilms and improve outcomes for those with chronic respiratory conditions.