Michael J. Podolsky, MD

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a lung disease that causes progressive scarring in the lungs, eventually leading to respiratory failure and death. We will generate new knowledge around how scarring can be reversed at a cellular level. We will focus on the extracellular matrix (ECM), the complex network of proteins that provides structural support for cells and tissues. Excess ECM accumulation in tissues is the defining feature of pulmonary fibrosis. Excess ECM occurs because of the imbalance between ECM production and degradation. ECM degradation is impaired in pulmonary fibrosis, but the way in which this happens is not well understood. We will use human cells and tissues to better understand this process, and how it can be reversed. Understanding how lung scarring can be reversed could lead to new drug therapies to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and improve the lives of patients.

Innovation Award, applied under the Hastings Award

Update: The goal of this project is to use highly novel screening technologies to understand the genetic regulation of how scar tissue can be broken down and improved. Pulmonary fibrosis is a devastating disease and is caused by build-up of scar tissue in the lungs that prevents the ability of lungs to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide. Most previous research has focused on reducing the build-up of scar tissue, but we have taken a different approach to try to understand how scar tissue might be broken down and removed and to discover new genes and molecules that can regulate this process, with the eventual goal of finding drug targets for this disease. This year we have made significant progress on this project in developing and using our novel CRISPR-Cas9 screening platform.