Friday, March 29, 2024

AdvertiseDonateSubmit
NewsSportsArtsOpinionThe QuadPhotoVideoIllustrationsCartoonsGraphicsThe StackPRIMEEnterpriseInteractivesPodcastsBruinwalkClassifieds

UCLA Health launches $20M fundraising campaign to start lung disease research center

UCLA Health has begun a $20 million fundraising campaign for lung disease research. The initiative’s funds will be used to create a center for advanced lung disease at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. (Daily Bruin file photo)

By Shruti Iyer

Nov. 19, 2019 12:51 a.m.

UCLA Health has begun a $20 million fundraising campaign for researching lung disease.

The initiative, which has collected $4.37 million for the Lung Health Research Accelerator Fund so far, will be used to create a new center for advanced lung disease at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, according to a press release published Thursday.

The funding will support the research of John A. Belperio and Joseph P. Lynch III, UCLA physicians who specialize in pulmonary diseases and critical care. Lynch is also a professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care Medicine, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology at the School of Medicine.

Their research focuses on the causes of advanced lung diseases and lung transplant rejection, which occurs when a patient’s immune system recognizes the transplanted lung as foreign to the body and attacks it.

Lung diseases affect millions of people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the third-leading cause of death, after ischaemic heart disease and stroke.

Because of the overlapping of symptoms across lung diseases, a breakthrough related to one disease could potentially help diagnose and treat other diseases, the press release stated.

According to the press release, Belperio said existing lung disease treatments leave patients with the single option of a transplant. He added that this isn’t a cure, as only half of the patients who have undergone a lung transplant survive for more than five years afterward.

Belperio’s lab has made several discoveries thus far, including that fungal growth in airways could lead to chronic transplant rejection. This finding led doctors to treat lung transplant patients with antifungal medication, Belperio said.

Three donations of $1 million each were made by Michael and Linda Keston, William Pierpoint, and Jeffrey and Robin Raich, with the rest of the money coming from nine other contributors. The donations are a part of the Centennial Campaign for UCLA.

Share this story:FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Shruti Iyer | Assistant News editor
Iyer is the current Science and Health editor and a reporter for News. She is also an Illustrator and Graphics contributor. She was previously a contributor for the Science and Health beat. She is a third year astrophysics student at UCLA who enjoys writing Physics and Astronomy research articles and drawing accompanying artwork.
Iyer is the current Science and Health editor and a reporter for News. She is also an Illustrator and Graphics contributor. She was previously a contributor for the Science and Health beat. She is a third year astrophysics student at UCLA who enjoys writing Physics and Astronomy research articles and drawing accompanying artwork.
COMMENTS
Featured Classifieds
More classifieds »
Related Posts