A four-year, $2.4 million federal grant given investigators at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) will support work to create a 3D cell model system helping to explain the processes that initiate and drive the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). According to a press release, the project will be…
$2.4M NIH Grant Supports Boston Team Creating Cell Model for IPF
A partnership that may touch many in the pulmonary fibrosis community started with a chance meeting on a school bus. But it wasn’t the typical, long yellow vehicle with a fold-out stop sign that ferries children to school. This bus had been turned…
The Open Source Imaging Consortium (OSIC), a nonprofit collaborative group focused on combatting lung diseases, announced the winners of a competition that challenged scientists to design artificial intelligence (AI) programs that predict lung function decline in people with pulmonary fibrosis. Broadly, AI refers to computer systems that are able…
This holiday season will be far different from previous ones. Because we are still in the midst of a global health crisis that won’t be resolved by Christmas, families must make difficult decisions about how to celebrate the holiday season this year. As a Canadian, I haven’t paid close attention…
I was finally at that mature stage in life when you go to beer festivals with your mother. (Oh, that’s not a thing?) On a windy fall day in October 2016, my mom, Diana, and I dressed up as pirates and got…
People with prediabetes or diabetes who live in smog-filled cities may be more prone to pulmonary fibrosis as a result of exposure to ozone, a study in mice indicates. The study, “Repetitive Ozone Exposures and Evaluation of Pulmonary Inflammation and Remodeling in Diabetic Mouse Strains,” was published…
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) negatively affects a person’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL), especially their physical health, a review study suggests. Patients’ age and disease severity also were found to have an impact on HRQoL. The study, “Health-related quality of life of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a…
iBio has received a U.S. patent for its method of increasing the amount and quality of endostatin-derived peptides generated from the company’s plant-based FastPharming protein production system. These peptides, which have been shown to possess strong anti-fibrotic or anti-scarring properties, make up part of IBIO-100, an experimental…
We moved out of our house today. Tomorrow, my husband, Jonny, our two pets, and I will board a plane for a new life in a new place. We are leaving Washington state behind for good. While I am sad to leave my friends, closing this chapter feels like a…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted treprostinil orphan drug designation for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Orphan drug designation is given to therapies with the potential to substantially improve treatment for rare diseases (conditions affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.). The designation…
