Over $5 million invested in lung regeneration research

Progenitor Cell Translational Consortium funded by US NIH aims to translate stem cell advances into therapies

Researchers from Penn Medicine (PA, USA), have announced the receipt of a $5.2million 7-year grant from the US NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The grant will be used to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms that promote lung regeneration, with a view towards developing treatments for children with congenital lung diseases and adults with lung damage caused by smoking, genetic defects or acute injury.

In collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (OH, USA) and Boston University (MA, USA), this group will make up one of seven new research hubs, which together will comprise the new Progenitor Cell Translational Consortium. This multidisciplinary consortium will receive a total of $40 million over the next seven years, in order to focus on translating advances in progenitor cell biology into new treatments for heart, lung and blood diseases.

Discussing the Penn group’s project, leader Edward Morrisey (Penn) stated: “The aim of our consortium is to harness the innate power of stem and progenitor cells in the lung to promote repair and regeneration and target them using emerging techniques for promoting tissue regeneration. We will be examining both pediatric and adult populations since many children suffer from chronic lung diseases such as severe asthma and cystic fibrosis. In adults, we are interested in determining whether we can harness the innate ability of the lung to repair and regenerate to treat chronic lung diseases as well as acute injury.”

Written by Hannah Wilson

Source: Penn Medicine News Release www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2016/10/morrisey/