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Identified cause and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Institution:

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University at Buffalo

Researchers:

Timothy Murphy, MD, and Sanjay Sethi, MD, professors of medicine and microbiology and immunology at University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Impact:

The discovery that COPD flare-ups are due to new strains of bacteria that COPD patients continuously acquire has led the two researchers to develop promising vaccine candidates for pathogens involved in the disease. Today they continue to lead the longest-running clinical investigation of COPD in the United States.

Timeline:

Previously, doctors thought that the life threatening flare-ups of COPD were caused by bacteria in a person’s lungs reaching a critical mass, causing increased shortness of breath and production of thick, airway-clogging mucous. The two UB scientists proved the bacterial-load theory wrong. In 2002, they published their findings in the New England Journal of Medicine in what is now considered a landmark paper in the field.

Topics

AgingBasic ScienceCancerCardiovascularClinical ResearchDiagnosticsDrug DevelopmentFeaturedGeneticsImmune SystemInfectious DiseaseMedical DeviceMental HealthNeurodegenerativeNobel PrizePediatricsPublic HealthRespiratorySurgical AdvancementTechnologyTreatment AdvancesVaccines

Schools

Albany Medical CollegeAlbert Einstein College of MedicineCity University of New York School of MedicineColumbia University College Of Physicians and SurgeonsHofstra Northwell School of Medicine at Hofstra UniversityIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiJacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the University at BuffaloNew York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic MedicineNew York Medical CollegeNew York University School of MedicineSchool of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester Medical CenterStony Brook University School of MedicineSUNY Downstate Medical CenterSUNY Upstate Medical UniversityTouro College of Osteopathic MedicineWeill Cornell MedicineWeill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian