2011 Research Grant Awardees
The American Asthma Foundation awards grants to investigators who are pursuing new, breakthrough pathways for treating, preventing, and curing asthma.
Senior Investigator Awards
Daniel H. Conrad, Ph.D.
Investigating How the Immunity That Causes Asthma May Be Regulated by Molecules from the Nervous System
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VADr. Conrad recently made the remarkable discovery that a molecule made by the nervous system (glutamate) stimulates immune cells, known as B cells, to produce a particular type of antibody, called IgE. Reducing IgE in the blood improves asthma, and Dr. Conrad will test the importance of the nervous system-B cell pathway in promoting asthma.
For full Scientific Abstract, click here
To visit Dr. Conrad’s faculty page, click here
To learn more about Dr. Conrad’s research visit The Conrad Lab by clicking here
James H. Hurley, Ph.D.
Maintaining the Effectiveness of Drugs for Asthma
Laboratory of Molecular Biology
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD
Drugs called Beta2 agonists, which relieve asthma by causing airway muscles to relax, become less effective with repeated use because their target receptor is gradually destroyed. Dr. Hurley, an expert in how cells destroy their own proteins, will define the mechanisms by which Beta2 receptors are destroyed in airway cells, and he will characterize the molecules that are involved in order to develop new therapies.For full Scientific Abstract, click here
To visit Dr. Hurley’s faculty page, click here
To learn more about Dr. Hurley’s research visit The Hurley Lab by clicking here
Nancy P. Keller, Ph.D.
A New Way that Fungal Infection May Lead to Asthma
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WIInhaled fungi have traditionally been thought to trigger asthma by causing an allergic reaction that leads to inflammation in the lungs. Dr. Keller, a prominent microbiologist, will test a new hypothesis that suggests that fungi release chemicals that directly stimulate lung inflammation as well as the production of mucus and the constriction of the airway muscles.
For full Scientific Abstract, click here
To visit Dr. Keller’s faculty page, click here
To learn more about Dr. Keller’s research visit The Keller Lab by clicking here
John S. McMurray, Ph.D.
Blocking Two Pathways to Asthma at Once
Department of Experimental Therapeutics
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TXAsthma is promoted by two cytokines, called IL-13 and IL-4, which are proteins that are released by white blood cells and then circulate through the body to regulate the immune response. Although drugs to block the effects of IL-13 or IL-4 in asthma are in development, and one is already in use, Dr. McMurray has found a new approach that may inhibit both IL 13 and IL 4 at once and, based on this knowledge, will conduct a series of experiments to identify new drugs for the treatment of asthma.
Jonathan D. Powell, M.D., Ph.D.
Sorting Out the Different Types of Immunity that Lead to Asthma
Department of Oncology
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MDCurrent treatments for asthma globally suppress the immune system; for example, medications such as steroids have numerous side effects and render patients susceptible to infections. Dr. Powell’s group has been dissecting the specific immune responses leading to asthma. Their work seeks to better understand the precise immunologic responses that cause this disease, and in doing so, they have identified novel and potentially more selective targets for therapy.
Jeremy W. Thorner, Ph.D.
Investigating How Fats on the Surface of Immune Cells May Improve Asthma in Children
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology
University of California, Berkeley, CAThe envelope that surrounds all cells and separates them form the outside world is called the cell “membrane”; it is composed of different types of greasy molecules, called lipids. Dr. Thorner will study a particular type of lipid in the membrane, the sphingolipids, which when misregulated may be a contributing factor in susceptibility to developing childhood asthma.
For full Scientific Abstract, click here
Listen to an interview with Dr. Thorner here
To visit Dr. Thorner’s faculty page, click here
To learn more about Dr. Thorner’s research visit The Thorner Lab by clicking here
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Roger Y. Tsien, Ph.D.
Nobel Laureate
2011 American Lung Association/American Asthma Foundation Senior Investigator AwardeeDeveloping New Techniques to Measure Changes in Enzymes that Are Important in Asthma
Department of Pharmacology
University of California, San Diego, CA
A large role for proteases, which are enzymes that operate both inside and outside cells, lies in their precise breakdown of proteins, creating products that can instruct the activity of cells and can alter the tissues surrounding cells. Because both of these functions are thought to be important in asthma, Dr. Tsien will examine the activity of proteases in the lungs of mice during an asthma attack, using new methods he has developed for tracking the activity of proteases.
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Dr. Tsien’s award is partially funded by a generous contribution from the American Lung
Association.To read more about the 2011 ALA/AAF Senior Investigator Award , click here
For full Scientific Abstract, click here
To visit Dr. Tsien’s faculty page, click here
To read Dr. Tsien’s Nobel Prize autobiography, click here
To learn more about Dr. Tsien’s research visit The Tsien Lab by clicking here
Early Excellence Awards
Edwin C. Jesudason, M.D.
Does the Lung Beat Like the Heart Does?
Department of Surgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California
Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of LiverpoolThe rate at which the heart beats is related not only to input from the central nervous system, but also to its own intrinsic system or “pacemaker,” which sends electrical current across the heart at a regular rate. Dr. Jesudason, a pediatric surgeon who studies lung development, will test the hypothesis that the lung, like the heart, has a self-contained pacemaker network that normally regulates airway caliber in a synchronized manner and that in asthma this regulation becomes skewed toward airway closure.
Carla V. Rothlin, Ph.D.
A New Target for Blocking the Allergic Responses that Trigger Asthma
Department of Immunobiology
Yale University, New Haven, CT“Antigen presenting cells” are specialized white blood cells that drive allergic responses, which can then trigger an asthma attack. In light of recent evidence that the activity of antigen presenting cells can be shut down through specialized proteins on their surface, Dr. Rothlin will test whether this is true in a model of asthma, in which case these proteins on antigen presenting cells could provide a new target for treating the disease.
Yaping Tu, Ph.D.
Preventing the Airway Narrowing that Occurs in Asthma
Department of Pharmacology
Creighton University, Omaha, NEOne of the most important therapies in asthma is the use of “beta agonists,” which open the airway by binding to proteins called “Beta2-receptors,” found on the surface of airway muscle cells, thereby causing the muscles to relax. Yet, other members of this receptor family trigger airway muscle cells to contract, instead of relax, but there is a certain protein that normally blocks the activity of these receptors, preventing the contractions of airway muscles. Dr. Tu previously has found evidence that these protective proteins may be reduced in asthma, thereby allowing airway muscle cells to contract excessively, so he will test the hypothesis that this is a cause of asthma which, if true, could provide a new pathway for the development of therapies.
Irina A. Udalova, Ph.D.
Macrophages Play a Role in Asthma, But Is It All Macrophages or Just Some?
Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology
University of Oxford, United KingdomMacrophages are white blood cells that are important in inflammation, including the inflammation that is associated with asthma, but recent studies show that there are different types of macrophages, some of which promote inflammation, while others do not. Dr. Udalova identified a molecule inside macrophages called IRF5 that drives macrophages toward inflammation while its absence prevents this, and she will now examine the role of IRF5 in asthma.
Extension Awards
K. Christopher Garcia, Ph.D.
Changing an “On” Switch for Asthma to an “Off” Switch
Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CADr. Garcia received a 2005 American Asthma Foundation Early Excellence Award to determine the structure of a shared receptor for the IL-4 and IL 13 cytokines, which are proteins released by immune cells and then bind to other immune cells, altering their function; these two cytokines are especially important in promoting asthma. For this Extension Award, Dr. Garcia will alter the structure of IL 13 so that it will still bind to its receptor, but instead of activating the cells to which it binds, it will shut down signaling through the receptor.
Kodi S. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
Studies of the Cells that Line the Airways Leads to the Testing of a New Therapy
Department of Microbiology
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VAThrough studies funded by a 2008 American Asthma Foundation Senior Investigator Award, Dr. Ravichandran found that the death of cells that line the airways leads to the suppression of inflammation, and that this suppression is at least in part due to the release of a protein called IL-10. Based on his additional finding that inhaling IL 10 had the benefit of preventing asthma in mice, Dr. Ravichandran will expand his studies to develop the optimal method for using inhaled IL 10 in the treatment of asthma and to determine its capacity to reverse established asthma.
