ATS Foundation Awards Elizabeth Redente, PhD $40,000 to Investigate Medical Therapies for Pulmonary

Elizabeth Redente, PhD, a research instructor in the Department of Pediatrics at National Jewish Health, has received an Early Career Investigator Award from the American Thoracic Society Foundation to aid her investigation into new medical therapies for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

IPF is a fatal condition that leads to scarring of the lungs. Two thirds of IPF patients die within three years of diagnosis, and there are no known treatments for this devastating disease.

Dr. Redente will use the $40,000 grant to explore the underlying pathology of IPF. In her preliminary work, she has identified that the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α may play an integral role in the resolution of pulmonary fibrosis. In her current project, Dr. Redente will use a mouse model to further characterize how TNF-α performs its protective function. This project represents a novel opportunity to identify new therapeutic targets for the treatment of IPF.

National Jewish Health has one of the largest interstitial lung disease programs in the country. Physicians, scientists and staff at National Jewish Health conduct comprehensive evaluation and treatment of patients with lung fibrosis while researching new ways to treat and prevent these disabling diseases.

The ATS Foundation has granted $280,000 in research awards to support early career investigators like Dr. Redente whose work is deemed highly meritorious by the NIH but is unfunded. The goal of the award is to enable these young researchers to continue their initial research so that they may reapply with an even stronger application to NIH or other funders.

“I am grateful for the ATS Foundation Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award, which provides me with the opportunity to continue asking novel and exciting research questions that will contribute to the development of therapeutic treatments for fatal diseases like IPF during this difficult funding period,” Dr. Redente confirms.

National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 115 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is the only facility in the world dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders. Patients and families come to National Jewish Health from around the world to receive cutting-edge, comprehensive and coordinated care. To learn more, visit www.njhealth.org.

The ATS Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization established in 2004 to raise funds for the ATS Foundation Research Program. The Research Program provides awards to young investigators striving to discover cures and treatments for a range of pulmonary diseases, critical care illnesses, and sleep disorders.

For more information about the ATS Foundation awards and grants, and to explore partnership opportunities to support research, please contact Alyssa Chase, senior manager of the ATS Research Program, at achase@thoracic.org or 212.315.8696. Visit us at foundation.thoracic.org.