Pulmonary Biology
Lung Diseases

Lung Diseases

Lung diseases can be congenital or acquired after birth. Many lung diseases are life-threatening, or lead to chronic morbidity (debility). Millions of people in the United States and world-wide are affected by lung disease of one kind or another. Life-saving surfactant therapy for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which occurs in infants born prematurely, was developed at Cincinnati Children’s by Dr. Whitsett. This therapy alone has resulted in a major reduction in perinatal deaths in the United States and countries world-wide. In a similar manner, groups in our division are actively seeking new treatments and therapies for many other lung diseases that affect children and adults. Using a wealth of cutting-edge approaches (many of which have been developed in our division) our groups work on the pathogenesis (causes) of lung diseases with the goal of identifying new therapeutic targets.

Some of the lung diseases being studied in the Division of Pulmonary Biology include:

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) in Adults

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Asthma.

Histology shows inflammatory cells around an artery and airway in a mouse model of allergic asthma. (Picture courtesy of the Le Cras laboratory.)

Timothy Le Cras, PhD: Lung development, pathogenesis of lung remodeling

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD)

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD).

Lung histology shows thickening of alveolar septae, enlarged distal airspaces and inflammation in infant with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH)

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Craniofacial Development and Abnormalities

Kristin Melton, MD: See Division of Neonatology.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

Paul Kingma, MD, PhD: SP-D in neonatal sepsis, RDS and innate immune system in neonatal infection

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD)

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Lung Cancer.

Histology shows multiple tumors in a genetic mouse model of lung cancer. (Picture courtesy of the Wikenhesier-Brokamp laboratory.)

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD: Epithelial cell growth regulation, pathways in lung cancer

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Lung Infection, Injury and Remodeling

Timothy Le Cras, PhD: Lung development, pathogenesis of lung remodeling

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Kathryn Wikenheiser-Brokamp, MD, PhD: Epithelial cell growth regulation, pathways in lung cancer

Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP)

Bruce Trapnell, MD: Regulation innate immunity, inflammation, GM-CSF in lung disease

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Pulmonary Fibrosis

William Hardie, MD: See Division of Pulmonary Medicine.

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Pulmonary Surfactant Disorders

Paul Kingma, MD, PhD: SP-D in neonatal sepsis, RDS and innate immune system in neonatal infection

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Pulmonary Vascular Diseases

Pulmonary Vascular Diseases.

Lung histology shows thickening and remodeling of small pulmonary artery in a patient with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Timothy Le Cras, PhD: Lung development, pathogenesis of lung remodeling

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Rare Lung Diseases

Paul Kingma, MD, PhD: SP-D in neonatal sepsis, RDS and innate immune system in neonatal infection

Frank McCormack, MD: See Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.

Bruce Trapnell, MD: Regulation innate immunity, inflammation, GM-CSF in lung disease

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS)

Jeffrey Whitsett, MD: Lung transcriptional control, epithelial patterning and differentiation

Yan Xu, PhD: Bioinformatics, systems biology of lung development and disease

Rare Lung Diseases Consortium

The Rare Lung Diseases Consortium (RLDC) is a network of cooperating clinical centers and patient support organizations who are working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a collaborative network whose novel structure is designed to accelerate clinical research and improve the delivery of medical care to individuals affected by rare lung diseases.

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