asthma Archives

The clinical trial group includes, from left, Gordon Bernard, MD, Katherine Cahill, MD, Kevin Niswender, MD, PhD, Pingsheng Wu, PhD, and R. Stokes Peebles, MD.

Clinical trial at VUMC tests novel treatment for asthma

Nov. 10, 2022—VUMC has begun enrolling patients with asthma in a clinical trial of a novel treatment: a medication approved to treat diabetes and obesity.

A clinical trial supports approval of a new medication to treat moderate-to-severe asthma in children.

Study explores role RSV plays in later asthma development

Jul. 21, 2022—A Vanderbilt clinical project will follow 1,950 Middle Tennessee children to determine how genes and the environment interact with RSV infection during the first year of life and contribute to asthma development

International study supports dupilumab for treatment of moderate-to-severe asthma in children

Dec. 8, 2021—In a late-stage clinical trial, the biologic agent dupilumab reduced the rate of severe asthma attacks and improved lung function and asthma control for children ages 6 to 11 with moderate-to-severe asthma, offering a new option to these patients.

Ayaka Sugiura and Jeff Rathmell, PhD, are studying a metabolic enzyme involved in T cell function that may offer a new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

CRISPR screen identifies new anti-inflammatory drug target

Nov. 11, 2021—A novel CRISPR screen developed by Vanderbilt researchers identified a promising new target for anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

Type 2 diabetes medication shown to benefit asthma patients

May. 20, 2021—Type 2 diabetes patients who also have asthma are benefitting from a diabetes medication, typically given to help the pancreas produce more insulin, that also improves asthma symptoms and may reduce lung and airway inflammation.

Allison Norlander, PhD, R. Stokes Peebles, MD, and colleagues are studying an approved drug that enhances immune cells and might be useful for treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Team studies new use for pulmonary hypertension drug

Mar. 25, 2021—An FDA-approved medication enhances the function of T regulatory cells (Treg), a class of immune cells that restrains the immune response, Vanderbilt investigators have discovered.

Pua lands NIH Director’s New Innovator Award

Oct. 1, 2019—Heather Pua, MD, PhD, one of 60 investigators to receive the 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, will explore a novel type of cell signaling by RNAs in allergic airway inflammation.

array of test tubes with pipette dropping fluid into one

Destructive ‘telegrams’ in asthma

Jan. 31, 2019—Vanderbilt investigators have discovered that certain microRNAs — "telegram"-like signals — increase after the induction of allergic airway inflammation.

Asthma’s androgen connection

Oct. 12, 2018—New findings may explain why the prevalence of asthma is higher in women and suggest that testosterone derivatives may be useful for treating more severe types of asthma.

Connecting an asthma gene to leukemia

Aug. 2, 2018—A receptor previously implicated in asthma may also play roles in other allergic diseases and in leukemia, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered.

Study sheds light on how childhood RSV can lead to asthma

Mar. 1, 2018—Infants who have higher amounts of the bacterium Lactobacillus present in their nose or upper part of the throat during an acute respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection are less likely to develop childhood wheezing later in life, a new Vanderbilt-led Center for Asthma Research study found.

Asthma study may point to potential new therapeutic approach

Jan. 4, 2018—New findings from Vanderbilt suggest that blocking the migration of cells involved in asthma may represent a new approach for treating the respiratory condition.