CPF continues partnership with American Thoracic Society to fund Pulmonary Fibrosis research

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis (CPF) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the world's leading professional organization for pulmonary, critical care and sleep physicians, today announced that the CPF will again partner with the ATS to continue to fund Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) research.  The CPF and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) will each commit $200,000 to co-fund four two-year research grants and the ATS will provide management of the grants.  Each researcher will receive $50,000 per year to support their work in PF.

"The four researchers awarded grants this year are doing work that could be critically important in the search to find treatments for PF," said Marvin I. Schwarz, Chairman of the Board of the CPF and James C. Campbell Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. "It is especially exciting for us to be able to offer four new grants for 2010-2011, which doubles our commitment and possibly the opportunity for breakthrough research."

Research in PF has been minimal historically compared with research into other diseases, including diseases that affect fewer Americans and that are not imminently deadly like PF.  The CPF is committed to increasing the amount of research in PF by contributing directly to PF research efforts.  

The awards will be presented to:

1. Steven Huang, Lecturer, University of Michigan
2. Philip Simonian, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Denver
3. Beiyun Zhou, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Southern California
4. Erica Herzog, Assistant Professor, Yale University

"The American Thoracic Society is very grateful for the doubling of grant funding from the Coalition. This year's applicants were exceptional and we are excited to have a partnership that allows us to optimize the possibility of new discoveries in PF," said Jesse Roman, M.D., Chair of the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee.

The ATS/CPF Partnership Grant for Pulmonary Fibrosis was established in 2006.