Our Initiatives
We are committed to continuing and expanding the pivotal work of Three Lakes Foundation to accelerate therapies for pulmonary fibrosis. Our passion and focus is on enhancing the drug development path to improve quality and quantity of effective safe therapies.
Research Funding
Collaborative Partnerships
Clinical Studies
Translational Tools
Understanding Our Mission
At Three Lakes 12-20, our mission is to accelerate development of effective therapies and translational resources for Pulmonary Fibrosis and ILD. It is our vision to develop new therapies for Pulmonary Fibrosis and ILD by bridging the most promising ideas with clinical validation through our research support and funding.
100,000+
Number of US Patients
3-5 Years
Median Remaining Survival Years After Diagnosis
38%
Patients who need supplemental Oxygen within 2 years of diagnosis
25-30%
Patients who will be referred for a lung transplant
Cheryl Nickerson-Nutter, PhD
Executive Director
Dr. Nickerson-Nutter is the Executive Director of Three Lakes 12-20. Prior to taking on this role, Dr. Nickerson-Nutter held the position of Executive Vice President of Research and Development for Three Lakes Foundation, over seeing the Foundation’s research strategy and programs to accelerate therapies for pulmonary fibrosis.
Dr. Nickerson-Nutter is a proven scientific leader with experience across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and contract research (CRO) sectors. She previously held senior roles at Pfizer as Chief Operating Officer/Senior Director for the Department of Immunology and Autoimmunity and at Caprion/immuneCarta (now CellCarta) as Vice President of Research and Development. Previous roles at Biogen and Bayer also contributed to her deep understanding of pre-clinical and translational studies and early clinical development.
After completing her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Maine, Dr. Nickerson-Nutter earned a PhD. in Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins, followed by post-doctoral work at the Mayo Clinic Department of Immunology. In addition to her research and drug development background, Dr. Nickerson-Nutter is a certified Project Management Professional.
Sean Tully
Founder, Advisory Board Chair
Former Global Head of Financial Products at CME Group, former Global Head of Linear USD and CAD Rates at Citigroup, former Global Head of Rates, Credit and Emerging Markets at WestLB. Inventor, Patent holder, author, mathematician and medical research philanthropist. BA Potsdam College, Mathematics, MS Clarkson University, Mathematics. Sean’s family has been hit hard with Familial Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, it having taken the life of his father in 2010 and nearly taking the life of his brother, were it not for a lung transplant, in 2023. Today, Sean dedicates much of his time and financial support towards the urgent search for a cure for this devastating disease.
Dr. Paul Yaworsky
Advisory Board Member
Dr. Paul Yaworsky is the founding CSO of Mediar Therapeutics. He joined Mediar from Pfizer, where he spent more than 20 years focused on drug discovery and development. At Pfizer, Paul created the initial scientific and business plan for fibrosis research. Most recently, he served as COO, Inflammation & Immunology Research, where he led strategy and operations for the research unit from early discovery into the clinic, including first-in-human through Phase 2 proof-of-concept for both biologic and small molecule approaches for Inflammation and Immunology assets.
A native of Canada, Paul holds a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedicine and a BSc in Molecular Genetics from the University of Toronto.
Anna Podolanczuk, MD
Advisory Board Member
Dr. Podolanczuk is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in interstitial lung disease. She is an NIH-funded investigator studying novel risk factors for pulmonary fibrosis in humans. Her research program is focused on understanding early or subclinical interstitial lung disease, characterizing imaging and blood biomarkers of pulmonary fibrosis, assessing the role of environmental exposures, and studying the connection between cardiovascular and pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Podolanczuk is a site investigator for several multi-center clinical trials of new therapies for pulmonary fibrosis.
After receiving her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brown University, Dr. Podolanczuk earned her MD from NYU School of Medicine. She completed residency in Internal Medicine and a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University. She received additional training in advanced pulmonary diseases at Columbia University. In addition, Dr. Podolanczuk earned a Master of Science in Patient-Oriented Research from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health, with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics.
12-20: the normal breaths-per-minute for healthy adults
Our Team
Established 2025
Three Lakes 12-20 (TL12-20) is a public IPF/ILD Research Foundation created to carry on the mission and vision of Three Lakes 12-20's predecessor, Three Lakes Foundation (TLF). The primary goal is to advance therapies for Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) and interstitial lung disease (ILD).
Three Lakes 12-20's predecessor, Three Lakes Foundation, was created by a family tragically affected by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a form of pulmonary fibrosis with an unknown cause. Driven by their own frustrations with misdiagnoses, lack of information, poor treatment options, and limited oxygen access, they focused on changing the course of care for future patients, caregivers, and physicians. Although Three Lakes Foundation is sunsetting, Three Lakes 12-20 will operate within New Venture Fund, which is a free-standing 501(c)(3) public charity that will help to accomplish our mission.
Until every person can breathe freely, we refuse to sit still.
Accelerating Research
TL12-20 will focus on accelerating research and drug development by validating and improving access to human tissues and assays and by supporting the development of IND-enabling studies and early clinical trials. This work will not only attract additional funding for fibrotic diseases but will ultimately lead to safer and more effective treatment options.
PF COLLECT
Pulmonary Fibrosis Consortium for Living Lung Excised Tissue
Human Precision Cut Lung Slices (hPCLS) have been developed as a way to assess efficacy of novel IPF therapies but access to this model is limited. The PF-COLLECT Consortium will consist of Pharmaceutical and Foundation Members who will collaborate to validate cryopreservation and develop human based tissue resources and assays to accelerate the development of therapies for ILD and PF. Being able to store the tissue for an extended period of time will speed up drug discovery by making tissues readily accessible and enabling tissue to be banked for future studies.
Come Meet With Us
Upcoming Events
November 13-15
Chicago, IL
PFF Summit is the world’s largest conference focused on pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and interstitial lung disease (ILD) research and education. Held every other year, it unites the community to come together as one to learn about this disease from globally recognized experts.
