Advisory Committee Chair
Marguerite R Irvin
Advisory Committee Members
Surya Bhatt
Bertha Hidalgo
Merry-Lynn N McDonald
Hermant K Tiwari
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2023
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Public Health
Abstract
This research utilizes precision medicine techniques to advance our understanding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) with the overall goal of improving the etiology of and identifying molecular targets and pathways in COPD and IPF to help improve patient outcomes. We aimed to 1) identify novel drug targets and uncover potential mechanisms by which pirfenidone and nintedanib attenuate fibrosis by performing an integrative ‘omics analysis of transcriptomics and proteomic responses to TGFb1-stimulated lung fibroblasts; 2) define a skeletal muscle fiber shift phenotype in both males and females with COPD and begin to disentangle underlying mechanisms by identifying differentially regulated transcripts and network modules associated with muscle fiber shift phenotype in COPD; and 3) examine the relationship between GERD and COPD whole genome sequence (WGS) data from Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) multi-ancestry cohorts (COPDGene, ECLIPSE, and SPIROMICS). We identified potential clinically relevant insights into patient stratification, drug targets, and biomarkers that may serve to prevent and/or improve health outcomes and quality of life for patients suffering from IPF or COPD.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Ava Claire, "The Genetic Epidemiology of Complex Lung Diseases" (2023). All ETDs from UAB. 367.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/367