[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/xing_zhou.jpg” caption=”Zhou Xing”]New research initiatives announced just in time for both Allergy/Asthma and Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Awareness Months will focus on understanding the role of the immune system in lung disease.

A $4.5 million partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institutes of Infection and Immunity and Cardiovascular and Respiratory Health, AllerGen, a Network of Centres of Excellence based at McMaster University and the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CCFF) will fund leading experts from across Canada who will conduct studies aimed at developing a better understanding of the role of the immune system in lung disease.

CIHR funding for this initiative is part of a larger package recently announced by the Minister of Health. The research projects will be conducted at various Canadian universities and associated hospitals, and will bring together experts from a range of scientific disciplines to network on key research questions in this area.

A team of McMaster researchers involved in this initiative, led by Zhou Xing, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, has been funded at $217,125 per year over three years.

Other members of the McMaster research team are Jack Gauldie, director of the Centre for Gene Therapeutics, Manel Jordana, professor of pathology and molecular medicine, and Martin Stampfli, an associate professor.

Statistics from the World Health Organization reported 4.4 million deaths throughout the world in 2003 resulting from acute bacterial and viral lower respiratory tract infections. In addition to the millions of death that occur world-wide annually as a result of respiratory tract infections, the lives of many millions more are affected by such illnesses, with major impacts such as loss of productivity and health care costs. A recent study suggested that uncontrolled asthma cases in Canada alone generate medical and other costs of $170 million annually.

Researchers hope to develop a better understanding of the immune response in the lung, as it pertains to diseases caused by pneumonia, emerging infectious agents such as avian influenza or the SARS virus, tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant organisms, all of which can cause dramatic changes in the lungs protective immune response.

This research initiative aims to establish complex experimental models of exposure to viruses, bacteria or allergens, to provide new knowledge in the development of respiratory diseases that will eventually lead to more effective prevention and treatment strategies.