Acute and Infectious Lung Diseases Branch

The Acute Lung Injury and Critical Care Program supports research on the pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of acute lung injury, the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and other lung-related critical illnesses including those associated with pneumonia and sepsis. Relevant research topics include investigations of cellular responses to inflammation, fluid exudation and resorption, mechanisms of lung injury including innate and adaptive immune responses, stretch and mechanically-induced damage, as well as oxidant, cytokine, and enzyme-induced molecular mediators. Research topics of interest also include the identification of candidate genes and other factors predisposing to acute lung injury and critical illness. The program also supports the development of new diagnostic tools for detection of acute lung injury, artificial lung development, implementation research, and clinical trials of therapies for ARDS and lung-related critical care initiated by investigators.  View funding information for the Acute Lung Injury and Critical Care Program.

The Digital Health and Informatics Technologies Program supports research on the development and utilization of specialized devices and technologies in pulmonary medicine, critical care, and sleep medicine. Specific research areas of interest include investigations of spirometry, bronchoscopy, computerized tomography imaging, ventilatory and monitoring devices, sleep disorder diagnosis and treatment technology, and pulmonary telehealth/telemonitoring tools. The program also aims to promote technologically intensive research areas, including biomarker analyses, omics panels, and artificial intelligence/machine learning studies. View funding information for the Digital Health and Informatics Technologies Program.

The Lung Response to Pulmonary Infections, Microbiome, and AIDS Program supports research on the course and pulmonary manifestations of HIV infection, the manifestations of lung disease in people living with HIV, as well as the lung responses to a variety of pathogens that cause pneumonia. Specific research areas of interest include investigations of cellular and molecular interactions between infectious agents and lung cells, immune mechanisms important in the pulmonary pathophysiology of pneumonia, HIV and associated opportunistic infections, targeted delivery of therapeutic agents, and behavioral interventions. The program also aims to promote microbiome studies to address questions relevant to the NHLBI mission, such as how microbial dysbiosis contributes to pulmonary health or disease, or how the host microbiome, their expressed genes, and their metabolites may directly affect lung development, health, and disease. View funding information for the Lung Response to Pulmonary Infections, Microbiome, and HIV/AIDS Program.

The Lung Transplantation Program supports basic and clinical studies in lung transplantation including research focused on the immunologic determinants of acute cellular and antibody mediated rejection, factors that contribute to primary graft dysfunction, and aspects of chronic lung allograft dysfunction including bronchiolitis obliterans and restrictive allograft syndromes. This program also supports the study of donor and recipient interventions, assessment methods, surgical approaches, and clinical management strategies that seek to improve patient outcomes. View funding information for the Lung Transplantation Program.

Training programs in Pulmonary and Critical Care Research pertain to research training and career development programs for all major research areas of relevance to the Division of Lung Diseases.  These training and career development programs include institutional and individual programs for promising pulmonary researchers at the high school, undergraduate, predoctoral, postdoctoral, junior faculty, and established investigator levels. View funding information for the NHLBI’s training programs.

Contact: Roya Kalantari, Ph.D., Program Director, roya.kalantari@nih.gov

Contact: Marisol Espinoza-Pintucci, Ph.D., Program Director, marisol.espinoza-pintucci@nih.gov