The K24 candidate is a NIH-trained pulmonary physician with substantial translational research and mentoring experience. The candidate recently joined the University of Florida College of Medicine and he is in the process of establishing a clinical research program devoted to the molecular and cell biology of lung disease with a special emphasis on neutrophil mediated processes and alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency. The candidate is setting up a research unit model similar to the one used by the NIH Pulmonary Branch utilizing biological materials obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage and brushings from clinically well characterized individuals with lung diseases. The clinical procedures unit will be located within the CRC and the bronchoalveolar processing laboratory has been established within the candidate?s research space. The university has made a significant investment in the training and support of clinical investigators through its support of the CRC and institutional receipt of a recent K30 award. The candidate?s long term goal is to help create a research environment which fosters the direct study of human lung disease in vivo by providing young investigators with the necessary intellectual and infrastructural support to pursue hypotheses. In this context, the candidate is the primary mentor of a recent K23 grantee and currently provides clinical and laboratory research training for both pediatric and adult pulmonary fellows. The candidate expects that the evolving pulmonary research talent within the medical school will form the core of a program project grant on the role of inflammatory factors in obstructive lung diseases. The candidate?s proposed research plan is a logical extension of his studies at NIH on the biological factors associated with early lung destruction and is supported by data from a pilot study he recently completed. The study is an investigator initiated project designed to evaluate the hypothesis that administration of aerosolized transgenic (alpha1-antitrypsin (tg-hAAT) can suppress increased concentrations of inflammatory factors in the lower respiratory tract of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficient individuals. Serial bronchoalveolar lavage is performed prior to, and following daily aerosolized tg-hAAT on study subjects over a 6 month period. Analysis of IL8, LTB4, neutrophil elastase and defensin concentrations before and after aerosolized tg-hAAT will be performed and this data will be utilized to design the tg-hAAT aerosol phase III studies. A K24 award would allow the investigator to integrate these research efforts into a mentoring program designed to interest and train young investigators in all aspects of patient-oriented research.
