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Regenerative medicine for lung disease focus of $2.5 million Penn grant

A study exploring lung repair and tissue regeneration to fight lung diseases by a team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has received a $2.5 million grant. The grant was awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium to six institutions, including […]

A study exploring lung repair and tissue regeneration to fight lung diseases by a team at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia has received a $2.5 million grant.

The grant was awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Lung Repair and Regeneration Consortium to six institutions, including Penn, according to a statement on Penn Medicine’s website. The grant money will be distributed over a five-year period.

Lung disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Cases of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are rising. Both diseases are thought to involve a chronic injury-repair cycle that leads to the eventual breakdown of normal airway structure and function, according to the statement.

Penn’s research team will be led by Edward Morrissey, a professor of cell and developmental biology and director of the Penn Institute for Regenerative Medicine. It will seek to identify and characterize cell types that affect lung repair and regeneration, according to the statement. It will also look at developing new therapies to help patients with asthma and other airway diseases.

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