Different lung disease patterns in severe pneumonia
Pulmonary pathophysiology sub-phenotypes of pneumonia
Researchers are using detailed tissue and cell analyses of lungs from people who died of severe pneumonia to identify different lung disease patterns that could lead to better treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston University Medical Campus NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11254886 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
We will examine lung tissue collected through rapid autopsy from people who died of severe pneumonia. Board-certified pathologists will score tissue features, and labs will use multiplex fluorescent immunohistochemistry to count and map immune cells and single-nucleus RNA sequencing to profile gene activity in individual cells. The team will compare these human lung patterns to several experimental models of severe pneumonia to see which models reflect human disease. The overall goal is to group severe pneumonias into distinct lung pathobiology types that can inform targeted, host-directed therapies.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This project mainly involves lung tissue from people who died of severe pneumonia with consent for rapid autopsy, and hospitalized patients with severe pneumonia could be candidates for related future studies.
Not a fit: People with mild pneumonia treated as outpatients or those with unrelated lung conditions are unlikely to directly benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help clinicians match specific lung disease patterns to more effective, targeted treatments and improve outcomes for people with severe pneumonia.
How similar studies have performed: Similar combinations of histology and single-cell sequencing have revealed meaningful patterns in COVID-19 and other lung diseases, but applying them specifically to define pneumonia sub-phenotypes across severe cases is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Boston University Medical Campus — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mizgerd, Joseph P — Boston University Medical Campus
- Study coordinator: Mizgerd, Joseph P
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.