The Brigham and Women's Hospital Respiratory Disorders Research Center uniquely combines basic science and clinical and genetic elements to develop innovative treatment leading to dramatic changes in length and quality-of-life for patients with respiratory diseases, including asthma, COPD and lung cancer.
Distinct areas of respiratory disease research at Brigham and Women's Hospital include:
- Genetics and mechanisms of emphysema, asthma, lung transplantation and esophageal peristalsis;
- Basic reserach in mesothelioma and lung cancer;
- Multi-institutional prospective clinical trials;
- Discoveries in pulmonary rehabilitation.
Research Highlights
Insights into COPD
New Horizons into COPD
Genetics and Epidemiology of Asthma and COPD
Eyes on Early Detection
Lung Cancer Models
Future Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Focus on Long-term Success of Lung Transplantation
Respiratory Tissue Bank: A Center for Research
Understanding Gender Differences in Respiratory Disease
Insights into COPD
Selected by the National Institutes of Health as one of only seven centers nationally to participate in the new COPD Clinical Research Network, Brigham and Women’s Hospital is conducting multi-center clinical trials of therapy for COPD over the next 5 years.
A multidisciplinary COPD research team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital combines research on genetic engineering in animal models, basic cell and molecular biology to uncover mechanisms of COPD, with genetic epidemiologists who are closing in on COPD genes in humans.
Translational research is designed to identify biomarkers for clinical trials and develop new techniques in lung volume reduction surgery.
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New Horizons into COPD
Like COPD, asthma research at Brigham and Women's Hospital combines expertise in basic science with outstanding genetic and respiratory epidemiology, translational research and clinical trials. The Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital was first to demonstrate the utility of leukotriene antagonists for asthma treatment. Performing the first mouse studies of the genetics of asthma, Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers also described the first gene to predict treatment response to inhaled corticosteroids.
A member of the Asthma Clinical Research Network, a nationwide network sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the Asthma Research Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital also conducts clinical trials and studies supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Recent research includes the optimal use of common asthma medications and the genetic determinants of response to asthma treatments.
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Genetics and Epidemiology of Asthma and COPD
Directed toward uncovering the genetic and environmental causes of asthma and COPD, research at the Channing Laboratory — a joint effort between Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School — has been the first to describe the natural history of airway responsiveness in normal and asthmatic populations, as well as the health effects of particulate air pollution and tobacco smoke exposure. Researchers at Channing Laboratory have also uncovered a gene for steroid treatment response in asthmatics on inhaled steroids.
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Eyes on Early Detection
Selected by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to participate in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), Brigham and Women's Hospital has been testing the benefits of giving chest x-rays and spiral computerized tomography (CT) scans to individuals who are at high risk of developing lung cancer. CT scans have also enabled Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers to examine genetic markers in COPD.
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Lung Cancer Models
Led by Steven D. Shapiro, M.D., Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have applied a murine model of cigarette smoke exposure to study cancer, as well as COPD. These models will be used to identify novel mechanisms of tumorigenesis. The group has also determined unique roles of matrix metalloproteinases in tumor progression.
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Future Treatment of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Scientists and clinicians with the Dana Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center have performed basic, clinical and epidemiological collaborative projects designed to translate experimental findings into improved therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. These projects have examined diagnostic and prognostic molecular markers, therapeutic targets, chromosomal abnormalities, and histological differences in the disease.
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Focus on Long-term Success of Lung Transplantation
By combining studies in tolerance and immunotherapy and exploring novel, non-invasive ways to monitor for rejection, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital are striving to increase lont-term tolerance, immunocompetence and survival following lung transplantation.
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Respiratory Tissue Bank: A Center for Research
Established in 1991, the Brigham and Women’s Hospital respiratory tissue bank has become a center for collaborative research projects, many funded by the National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health. These studies include:
- Prediction of the outcome of treatment in patients with early-stage lung cancer and mesothelioma;
- Gene expression and genetic markers in emphysema;
- Gender-dependent markers in lung cancer;
- Roles of cell cycle regulatory pathways, matrix metalloproteinases, adhesion/motility proteins, retinoid receptors, and macrophage-stimulating protein in the pathogenesis and metastasis of lung cancer.
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Understanding Gender Differences in Respiratory Disease
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital are examining the variations in risk factors, sub-populations, types of lung cancer, and social scenarios. Raphael Bueno, MD, Associate Chief of Thoracic Surgery, is currently studying gender-dependent markers in lung cancer in conjunction with researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health. This project is designed to bring together clinical data and epidemiologic tools to create a new prospective population base for longitudinal studies defining the pathogenesis and targets for lung cancer in women. Dawn L. DeMeo, M.D., M.P.H., and Edwin K. Silverman, M.D., Ph. D. at Channing Laboratory have reported that women have a higher risk for early-onset COPD and are currently pusuing the genetic basis for this phenomenon.
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