Congratulations to Dr. Gillian Goobie (Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Tillie-Louise Hackett’s laboratory) who was awarded a 3 year Parker B. Francis Fellowship in Pulmonary Research to support her research project entitled “Identifying environmentally sensitive targets in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis”.
The Parker B. Francis Fellowship in Pulmonary Research (PBF) is intended to support the development of outstanding investigators embarking on careers in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The PBF Fellowship provides important support at a key transition point in the careers of new scientists who will benefit patients with lung diseases through innovative research.
Lay summary:
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a disease that causes lung scarring and results in breathing difficulties and early death. Air pollution is associated with IPF development and progression, but we do not understand why. This project aims to answer this question by looking at how air pollution contributes to scar tissue within the lungs through a process called DNA methylation that controls whether genes are turned on or off. We will match satellite-derived air pollution levels with lung imaging and DNA methylation data from patients with IPF compared to healthy individuals to understand how lung scarring occurs in response to pollution. This research will help uncover how pollution contributes to lung scarring in IPF and may identify new targets for therapies to reverse this process.