{"id":5591,"date":"2025-05-28T12:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T16:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/?page_id=5591"},"modified":"2025-10-08T16:38:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:38:07","slug":"respiratory-diseases","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/therapeutic-areas\/respiratory-diseases\/","title":{"rendered":"Respiratory Diseases"},"content":{"rendered":"<script>\n\n    (function($) {\n        $(\"body, html\").addClass(\"heels_full_width_overflow\");\n    })(jQuery);\n\n   <\/script>\n   <div style=\"background-color:#257CB7;\" class=\"full-width-contained whitebackground pulmonology-and-respiratory section-hero\">\n<h1>Respiratory Diseases<\/h1>\n<p>Understanding respiratory diseases to develop new treatments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script>\n\n    (function($) {\n        $(\"body, html\").addClass(\"heels_full_width_overflow\");\n    })(jQuery);\n\n   <\/script>\n   <div style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;\" class=\"full-width-contained whitebackground pulmonology-and-respiratory\">\n\n<div class=\"\ttitle-sub-content title-blue-line\t\">\n\t <div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\"><div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p>Respiratory diseases are among the most common types of diseases and encompass a wide spectrum of conditions, from viral and bacterial infections to chronic diseases including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Of the top 10 leading causes of death in 2023, two were respiratory diseases [1].<\/p>\n<p>Responsiveness to environmental exposures such as air pollution, ozone, dust, animals, pests, mold, and tobacco smoke can worsen conditions like asthma and COPD. In addition, asthma is often associated with allergy, a dysfunctional hypersensitive immune response to environmental exposures and viral infections, resulting in the release of inflammatory mediators. This response often extends into the upper respiratory as allergic rhinitis. More research is needed to determine how environmental exposures as well as viruses affect the airways so we can develop better interventions to prevent and treat these conditions.<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5669\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-1-1000x667.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-1.jpg 1254w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\"><div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-2-1000x563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-2-1000x563.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-2-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1352\/2025\/05\/pulmonology-2.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-md-6 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p>Other respiratory conditions, like those resulting from infection with the COVID-19 virus, are relatively new from a research perspective and additional research is required to understand the mechanisms behind the development of illness like long COVID and the array of additional effects COVID infection may influence.<\/p>\n<p>In collaboration with respiratory disease experts, as well as internationally recognized allergy\/immunology experts, at UNC and entities like Spirovation, (a specialty CRO affiliated with the Marsico Lung Institute at the University of North Carolina at\u202fChapel Hill) and the UNC Children\u2019s Research Institute, the CRA facilitates research to understand respiratory biology associated with these conditions to develop new and innovative treatments.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"\treferences title-sub-content\t\">\n\t \n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Leading Causes of Death. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/fastats\/leading-causes-of-death.htm\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/fastats\/leading-causes-of-death.htm<\/a>. September 16, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<script>\n\n    (function($) {\n        $(\"body, html\").addClass(\"heels_full_width_overflow\");\n    })(jQuery);\n\n   <\/script>\n   <div style=\"background-color:#13294B;\" class=\"full-width-contained whitebackground cra-footer\"><div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\"><div class=\"col-lg-4 col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-sm-12 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<p>Get to Know Us<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"row  oscitas-bootstrap-container\"><div class=\"col-lg-3 col-md-3 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/capabilities\/\">Browse Capabilities <i class=\"glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-right\" ><\/i><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-3 col-md-3 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/the-cra-team\/\">Meet the Team <i class=\"glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-right\" ><\/i><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-3 col-md-3 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/unccra\/collaborate-with-us\/\">Contact Us <i class=\"glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-right\" ><\/i><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-lg-3 col-md-3 col-xs-12 col-sm-6 oscitas-bootstrap-container\">\n<a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-block  oscitas-bootstrap-container\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/unc-clinical-research-alliance\/\">LinkedIn <i class=\"glyphicon glyphicon-arrow-right\" ><\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":116266,"featured_media":0,"parent":3035,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/front-page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-5591","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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