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NewsCIHR Team Grants: Lung Health Recipients

Jul 26, 2024

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has announced the Government of Canada and partners are investing $19.3 million to support nine research teams to study ongoing, new, and emerging threats to lung health.

At HLI, PIs Dr. Chris Carlsten and Pat Camp will lead a team focusing on the long-term health effects of wildfire smoke and how exposure to wildfire smoke affects people differently based on age, sex, genetics, exercise habits, and socioeconomic status. Their findings will guide public health advice during wildfire emergencies to help keep people safe.

Project Title: Lungs on Fire: Wildfire Smoke, Incident Diseases, Susceptible Populations, and Community Values in Canada – $1,999,990

“We are thrilled to have support for our work on understanding the long-term effects of wildfire smoke. Unfortunately, these particulate-rich exposures are anticipated to increase and we need knowledge about how our communities will be affected in order to best target interventions to protect them.”
– Dr. Chris Carlsten

PIs Dr. Janice Leung and Dr. Don Sin will lead a team featuring Drs. Jordan Guenette, Jonathon Leipsic, Rachel Eddy, and Ana Hernandez Cordero, researching the impact of vaping in the lungs of Canadian adolescents and adults using breathing, imaging, exercise, and airway sampling techniques. This study will represent one of the most detailed evaluations of e-cigarette users in the world, helping everyone make informed decisions about vaping.

Project Title: The Canadian Lung Outcomes in Users of Vaping Devices (CLOUD) Study – $1,999,635

“Many Canadians are asking questions about what vaping does to their lungs. We are honoured to have the opportunity to help answer these questions so that they can keep their lungs healthy!”
– Dr. Janice Leung

Recruitment for Dr. Leung’s CLOUD study will open in the fall. If interested, please email respiratory.research@hli.ubc.ca or call 604-806-9465. Her ongoing studies include CANUCK, TORCH, and AGE-HIV, all of which continue to search for participants.

Dr. Sin is also co-PI on two other lung health team grants:
Immune dysanapsis: Updating the paradigm of inflammation and lung health trajectories in diverse populations to achieve lifelong health for all

Canadian consortium for understanding the role of airway mucus occlusions in cough, COPD and asthma (CANMuc)

Dr. Camp is also a co-investigator on another lung health team grant:
Harnessing Data to Improve Lung Health in Canada: Data4LungHealth

Read the Government of Canada’s press release here: https://www.canada.ca/en/institutes-health-research/news/2024/07/nine-research-teams-to-tackle-new-and-existing-threats-to-lung-health.html