COPD

Industry-Sponsored Research Partnerships

Personalized medicine is the backbone of the National Jewish Health Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Program incorporating:

• Advanced diagnostics for early detection and risk assessment
• Individualized therapy with a multidisciplinary approach
• Industry-sponsored and NIH-funded research by our nationally renowned experts

As one of the largest pulmonary disease referral centers in the world, we have access to thousands of COPD patients, biological samples and animal models that can lead to new discoveries in genotyping, pharmacology, and treatments that optimize each patient’s COPD care and quality of life.

Clinical COPD Program

COPD Research

COPD research at National Jewish Health is made possible through funding from a wide variety of sources such as the National Institutes of Health (Opens in a new window), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (Opens in a new window), Medicare (Opens in a new window), foundations and industry sponsors.

COPD Scientific Discoveries at National Jewish Health

• Interplay of genes and environment
• Efficacy of pharmacological treatments
• Cellular changes from smoking
• Long-term drug safety

COPD Clinical Research Areas of Interest

• Pharmacological treatments
• Psychosocial aspects of disease management
• Quality of life factors
• Screening tool development
• Environmental factors
• Genetic factors

COPD Biorepository

National Jewish Health has a repository of biological specimens from more than 4,000 COPD patients seen at National Jewish Health. By cross-referencing these samples with our electronic medical record (EMR), we are able to identify highly relevant samples derived from clinical information collected over time, including laboratory testing, symptoms, diagnoses and demographics.

COPD Basic Research

Investigators at National Jewish Health conduct extensive basic research into the mechanisms involved in the development and resolution of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

COPD Basic Research Areas of Interest

• Translational studies of COPD development mechanisms 
• COPD genetic association studies
• GWAS for airflow limitation and emphysema
• COPD genomic studies
• Proteomics studies of COPD
• Metabolomic studies of COPD
• Biomarkers predictive of acute exacerbations and hospitalizations for COPD
• Novel drug therapy to reduce progression of COPD

COPD Animal Models

National Jewish investigators use several animal models to study aspects of the development and resolution of COPD based on well-characterized experimental endpoints that include airway inflammation and emphysema.

• Mouse tobacco smoke exposure model
• Rat tobacco smoke exposure model
• E-cigarette mouse exposure models
• Morphometric analysis of lung
• Genomics of lung disease
• Metabolomics of lung disease
• Proteomics of lung disease
• Systems biology with insights into COPD pathogenesis

COPD Cell Cultures

National Jewish investigators also have extensive expertise in the in vitro study of tobacco smoke. These studies involved assessment of exposure of either whole tobacco smoke or cigarette smoke extract. An extensive collection of primary peripheral blood and airway cells as well as banked lung tissue are available from COPD patients.