Dr. Samir Kelada (Associate Professor, Genetics) received a new R01 grant from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) for his project titled “Genetic mechanisms underlying maladaptive respiratory responses to air pollution”.
The studies are designed to address long-standing questions about mechanisms underlying adaptation and whether failure to adapt is a predictor of susceptibility to ozone-induced chronic lung diseases. The lab will use genetically diverse mice from the Collaborative Cross (CC) population that exhibit divergent responses in a model of O3 adaptation. Comparing the genomes, epigenomes, and transcriptomes of these phenotypically divergent strains will enable the team to identify novel genes and pathways (i.e., new mechanisms) that determine adaptation/failure to adapt to O3. Findings will be translated across species through genetic epidemiologic analysis of two large, well-characterized prospective cohorts of childhood asthma and COPD.