Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute

COPD Program

The COPD Program was initiated in January of 2007 based on the realization that many investigators at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) and at the University of New Mexico have developed unique resources to address key problems related to COPD. This program was established to facilitate the interaction of these groups and maximize the use of the existing resources to improve ongoing research. The aims and goals of the COPD Program are summarized below. View Commercial Capabilities.

The first year of the program will be dedicated to identifying the project that can develop a competitive grant application to be included into a Program Project Grant (PPG) application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To this end, monthly meetings will be held where selected RO1-funded investigators are scheduled to present to all members of the COPD Working Group. The investigators will outline their overall hypothesis and specific aims that will be proposed. They will present the preliminary results that will support their specific aims. These meetings will help each investigator to develop their proposal and essentially have the first review by their peers.

Drs. Paula Meek/Mark Parshall will present on a project that evaluates a SNP in p53 that may be a predictor for a higher risk of developing COPD exacerbations.
Dr. Matt Campen will present on vascular congestion and COPD.
Dr. Fadi Xu will present on attenuated ventilatory responses in COPD.
Dr. Yohannes Tesfaigzi will present on the regulation of epithelial cell hyperplasia
Dr. Jinkle Seagrave will present on inflammatory cells releasing proteinases and matrix metalloproteinases that cause break down of elastin and the generated elastin peptides, in turn recruiting additional inflammatory cells and causing increased expression and release of the proteinases.

Further years will focus on:

Studies on Lovelace Smokers Cohort (LSC): The LSC Respiratory Health Study is funded by the State of New Mexico as a direct appropriation from the New Mexico Tobacco Settlement Fund. The major goal of this ongoing study is to enroll and follow up on current and former smokers in Albuquerque and the surrounding communities.
Studies on animal models: Studies will be completed on the effect of several drugs to reduce emphysema in mice. Currently, we are testing the effect of inhaled statins on the development of cigarette smoke-induced emphysema in mice. Depending on the outcome from these studies we plan to license the new treatment to interested commercial entities.
Publications: For years 2 through 5, the COPD Program members plan to continue publishing on data obtained from the LSC participants and animal models. These papers will describe the rate of decline in pulmonary function of smokers generally and patients with COPD.
Training of Young Investigators: It is anticipated that three to four new investigators will be recruited over the next 5 years as part of the COPD Program to join LRRI as postdocs or Associate Research Scientists. The goal of this program will be to help interested individuals to fully develop into independent investigators, and to be successful in competing for funds from foundations or from federal agencies such as NIH initially through the R21 or R03 mechanism.

Overall, the plan within the next 5 years will be to have an integrated Working Group that can function as a unit and has contributed to the understanding of emphysema and chronic bronchitis as documented by published papers in peer review journals. At the end of 5 years, we plan to have at least some of the projects funded as part of a PPG or by RO1 mechanisms or to have highly competitive applications in progress of being revised toward the goal of being successfully funded.

Over the years 2012 to 2017 we envision that the COPD Program at LRRI will be recognized nationally and internationally. Therefore, we will devise our goals with integrating our expertise to complement our unique resources with efforts that are ongoing in other COPD Research Centers.

Understanding Mechanisms and Developing Therapies: We envision that the animal models of COPD and COPD exacerbation will be useful for both understanding the mechanisms of this disease and for developing useful therapies. These animal models will continue to be used widely by pharmaceutical industry and individual investigators in the field to identify early markers for COPD and to test new drugs based on the identification of novel mechanisms of disease.
COPD and Polymorphisms: During this period, we will have analyzed a large number of SNPs using the LSC and the Veterans’ cohorts to identify signature SNPs that are associated with a high risk of developing COPD. These findings may also contribute ideas for identifying new insights in the underlying mechanisms for this disease using the animal and cell culture models.
COPD and Lung Cancer: Because of the involvement of the Lung Cancer Program with the LSC, the studies on early markers for COPD will also benefit the early detection of patients with a high risk of developing lung cancer. Therefore, this program will be elucidating the mechanisms involved in chronic lung inflammation and the development of lung cancer.