Nine researchers have been awarded partner grants from the ATS Foundation totaling $780,000 to advance pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine around the world. These grants provide crucial support for talented investigators from around the world, launching careers dedicated to scientific discovery and better patient care.

Since it began in 2004, the ATS Foundation Research Program has awarded $16 million to 210 investigators, both in the U.S. and internationally. These researchers have gone on to receive $215 million in federal funding.

In recent years, the Research Program has expanded the number and kinds of researchers it funds, but the primary emphasis remains on promising young investigators making the transition from working in established laboratories to becoming independent researchers. Their work spans basic, translational, and clinical research in pediatric and adults respiratory medicine.

“The ATS grants can be an enormous stepping stone to a successful career,” says Dean Schraufnagel, MD, chair of the ATS Foundation and professor of medicine at the University of Illinois Chicago. “They indicate that the research and researcher are recognized by a review team of a leading scientific society in respiratory medicine. Getting an ATS grant greatly increases the ability to compete for major grants from the National Institutes of Health and other national and international agencies.”

Richard J. Schwab, MD, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and chair of the ATS Scientific Advisory Committee that is charged with selecting the best grant proposals, said, “This year we were singularly impressed by the high quality and innovative proposals that were submitted to the ATS Foundation,” he said.

The ATS Foundation Research Program Partner Grant recipients for the 2017 grant cycle are:

Nadine Al-Naamani, MD, MS
University of Pennsylvania
Effect of Obesity on Treatment Response in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Ye Cui, MD, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Trafficking in Lung Fibroblasts and Its Role in HPS Lung Fibrosis

Matthew G. Drake, MD
Oregon Health and Science University
Sensory Nerve Plasticity and P2X Receptor Expression in Chronic Cough

Vito Mennella, PhD
The Hospital for Sick Children
Development of Diagnostic Toolbox to Diagnose Complex PCD Cases

Jeremy E. Orr, MD
University of California, San Diego
Impact of Non-Invasive Ventilation on Cardiovascular Biomarkers in COPD

Andrew Sweatt, MD
Stanford University
Deep Immunophenotyping in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension by Unsupervised Machine Learning

Alice M. Turner, MBCnB
University of Birmingham
Improving Access to Augmentation Therapy in AATD: The Effect of Augmentation on Quality of Life

Deborah Winter, PhD
Northwestern University
Dissecting the Role of Lung Macrophages in Sarcoidosis Using Genomic Approaches

Susan Yount, PhD
Northwestern University
Clinical validation of patient-centered outcomes measures in smokers with COPD