ATS Announces 20 Newest Foundation Research Program Awardees

Now in its ninth year, the ATS Foundation Research Program continues to advance pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine by providing early career investigators with opportunities to conduct independent research and gather data to secure other grants.

"The ATS takes great pride in the strength and quality of its research program," said ATS Executive Director Stephen C. Crane, PhD, MPH. "This year, significant ATS Foundation funds were added to those of our partners to expand the amount of research support available and to offer two unrestricted grants.  We sincerely thank all those who contributed to the Foundation and who made this support possible."

This year’s proposal submissions were reviewed by the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee, which is co-chaired by Jesse Roman, MD, and M. Safwan Badr, MD. The committee received more than 100 applications, ranked them according to scientific merit and granted awards to these 20 researchers.

ATS/Alpha-1 Foundation Research Grant

Tomás Carroll, MS, PhD, of Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland: "The Role of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Heterozygosity in COPD"

ATS/Children’s Interstitial Lung Disease Foundation Research Grant

Laertis Iknomou, PhD, Boston University School of Medicine: "iPS Cell Modeling of ChILD Syndrome Caused by TTF1 Mutations"

ATS/Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis/Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Research Grants

Jia Guo, MD, MS, of University of Rochester: "Fibrocyte Differentiation is Regulated by Yin Yang 1 in Pulmonary Fibrosis"

Yan Sanders, MD, MS, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham: "Epigenetic Regulation of Caveolin-1 by TGF-Beta-Mediated Signal Pathway in Lung Fibroblasts"

ATS/Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research Grant

Nabeel Hamzeh, MD, of National Jewish Health: "The Effect of an Oral Antioxidant, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine, on Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Markers in the BAL and BAL Cells of Sarcoidosis Patients"

ATS/Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Network Research Grant

Yang Zhou, PhD, of Yale University: "Chitinase 3-Like 1 (CHI3L1) as a Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in the Pulmonary Fibrosis of Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome"

ATS/Merck Translational Research Grant in Asthma

Dorothy Cheung, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin: "Role of Human Neutrophil Subsets in Post-Viral-Induced Asthma"

ATS Methods in Epidemiology, Clinical and Operations Research (MECOR)

Adebolajo Adeyemo, MB.BS, MSc, of University of Ibadan, Nigeria: "Biomass Combustion and Burden of Upper Airway Inflammation"

Adaeze Ayuk, MB.BS, of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital: "Spirometric Reference Values in School-Aged Children in SE Nigeria"

Bamidele Adeniyi, MBChB, FWACP, Federal Medical Center, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria: "Pulmonary Function Among Petrol Pump Workers in Owo-Southwestern Nigeria"

Ozge Yilmaz, MD, Celal Bayer University, Manisa, Turkey: "Food Allergen Sensitivity as a Prognostic Factor for Wheezing in Children"

PHA Proof of Concept Grants

Ferhaan Ahmad, MD, PhD, DCS, of University of Pittsburgh Cardiovascular Institute: "Applying Genomics as a Springboard to Novel Mechanisms of Pulmonary Hypertension"

Mary Beth Brown, PhD, PT, ATC, of Indiana University: "Clinical Investigation of a Daily Walking Program plus L-Arginine Supplementation for the Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension"

ATS/Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Research Grant

Anne Holland, PhD, of La Trobe University Australia: "Where Does Pulmonary Rehabilitation Fit in the Management of Pulmonary Fibrosis?"

ATS/Pulmonary Hypertension Association/Pfizer Research Fellowships in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Won-Kyung Cho, MD, of Yale University: "The Role of IL-13 in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension"

Kazuyo Kegan, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: "Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 Mediates Th2 Immune Response during Development of Pulmonary Hypertension"

ATS Rare Disease Grant (funded by the Nathan Cumming's Foundation)

Diego Ize-Ludlow, MD, of the University of Illinois-Chicago: "Rohhad Syndrome Registry: Database Development and Genomic Investigation"

ATS/Respiratory Health Association on Metropolitan Chicago Research Grant  

Ai (Anna) Lam, MD, of Northwestern University:"Selective Inhibition of Wnt/Beta-Catenin Signaling as Novel Therapeutic Target for Pulmonary Fibrosis"

ATS Unrestricted Grants

Ian Lewkowich, PhD, of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: "Mechanisms of Steroid Resistance in Severe Asthma"

Howard Huang, MD, of Washington University in St. Louis: "Role of Recipient Myeloid Cells in Lung Allograft Injury and Rejection"