Jonathan Kropski

(iStock)

Studies to explore molecular drivers of pulmonary diseases

Three grants, totaling over $22 million, were awarded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and will be led by a team of VUMC investigators.

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Cell-specific variations in gene regulation may be key to treating pulmonary fibrosis

An international research team co-led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center has revealed how variations in gene regulation in different cell types drive pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive respiratory disorder characterized by scarring and loss of functional lung tissue.

From left, Nicholas Negretti, PhD, Jonathan Kropski, MD, John Benjamin, MD, MPH, Jennifer Sucre, MD, and Erin Plosa, MD, led the research team that created a single-cell “atlas” of lung development. (photo by Erin O. Smith)

“Atlas” of lung development may aid efforts to heal premature lungs

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have constructed a single-cell “atlas” of lung development that tracks multiple cell types over time.

Why does COVID-19 seem to spare children? Vanderbilt University Medical Center study offers an answer 

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and their colleagues have determined a key factor as to why COVID-19 appears to infect and sicken adults and older people preferentially while seeming to spare younger children. 

lungs

New clues to lung-scarring disease may aid treatment

Scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, have discovered previously unreported genetic and cellular changes that occur in the lungs of people with pulmonary fibrosis (PF).

Children playing a board game. (iStockphoto)

Research probes why COVID-19 seems to spare young children

Lung disease experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and their colleagues have determined a key factor as to why COVID-19 appears to infect and sicken adults and older people preferentially while seeming to spare younger children.