Research & Innovation | Overview
Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Pulmonary Medicine is paving new ground in providing the highest quality of care and improving outcomes for children and adults who have lung disease.
Our scientists and many of our clinicians are engaged in cutting-edge research that often leads the field and, most importantly, deepens our understanding of a range of pulmonary conditions — including asthma, cystic fibrosis, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) — so that we can improve the health of our patients. Here is a look at those efforts:
Understanding asthma in the lab and in homes
The Severe Asthma Program's research team is advancing the field through research on severe asthma and effective asthma medicines, including research funded by the National Institutes of Health to understand asthma and respiratory symptoms in children born prematurely. The team’s doctors are senior investigators in the Asthma Clinical Research Center and leaders of their own research labs.
Virtually visiting homes to help manage asthma
There’s no place like home — and there’s a possible benefit to pulmonologists virtually visiting the homes of children with asthma to help them better manage the condition.
The Severe Asthma Program is also home to a clinical registry that follows patients with severe asthma to learn more about the condition. It works closely with major pediatric academic medical centers across the country as part of a pediatric-specific asthma consortium to address the research and clinical problems faced by children with severe asthma.
Addressing inequities in the homes of children with asthma
Boston Children’s researchers pinpoint asthma triggers in low-income homes of children — and help improve their indoor environments.
Looking at the genomics of acute asthma control
In this study, researchers want to learn more about the impact of genetics and environmental factors on determining poor asthma control and exacerbation, and whether these factors may lead to a worsening of asthma control. They will be conducting genetic studies of asthma and asthma-related conditions from collected materials. Eligible participants will be followed in the study for six months and will be asked to twice visit Boston Children’s to complete a series of breathing tests, provide blood and nasal samples, and complete a variety of study questionnaires.
A comprehensive effort to understand cystic fibrosis (CF)
Research at our Cystic Fibrosis Center touches every aspect of the disease and its care. As one of the largest cystic fibrosis centers in the U.S., the center is a major hub for clinical drug trials that enroll people of all ages. It also studies many non-drug interventions for CF and conducts extensive research aimed at improving quality of life, through the Success with Therapies Research Consortium (STRC) and by maximizing self-care at home. The center also launched gene therapy trials that could potentially benefit those who cannot take modulator drugs.
Strengthening follow-up care for infants with BPD
Boston Children’s specialists are recommending new hospital discharge guidelines for the follow-up care of infants who have BPD, aiming to improve their health.
Exploring the genetics of interstitial lung disease (ILD)
ChILD, our research program that’s focused on childhood interstitial lung disease, is the highest enroller in the national chILDRN patient registry. ChILD works closely with the Pulmonary Genetics Program to determine the genetic causes of rare diffuse lung disease and work out its pathogenic mechanisms as a way to create therapeutics for some patients, including those who have neuroendocrine hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI). The program is beginning to explore the genetic and epigenetic (traits that happen without DNA changes) predictors of disease progression in rare diffuse parenchymal lung disease. The program can identify risk factors and treatment strategies to alter disease progression. Also, ChILD is a part of a national collaboration to define radiographic changes associated with fibrotic lung disease in children.
Developing a chILD cell atlas to eliminate gene mapping challenges
Boston Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Interstitial and Diffuse Lung Disease (chILD) Foundation are collaborating to develop an open-source atlas of childhood inflammatory interstitial lung (chILD) diseases at the single-cell resolution of children of diverse ancestries. This collaborative research initiative has been made possible by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
The research aims to address fundamental challenges that impede chILD gene mapping and establishes a framework to accelerate more precise molecular diagnosis of chILD. The atlas will help address a key issue of interest to the chILD community: developing a revised molecular classification of chILD that more accurately reflects the etiologic heterogeneity, better distinguishes patient subgroups with similar clinical outcomes, improves power for disease mapping studies, and better informs treatment decisions.
Studying testing methods for primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD)
Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed because its symptoms overlap with several more common respiratory conditions. It is a rare genetic disorder which may affect as many as one-third of patients with heterotaxy syndrome. Many patients with heterotaxy syndrome have respiratory problems involving their noses, ears, sinus, and lung, which can be caused by PCD. When cilia that are part of airway cells don’t work properly, there may be an abnormal buildup of mucous in the airways, which can increase the risk of infection. The Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) Program is studying the validity of using nasal nitric oxide testing in the diagnosis of PCD.