The Medical & Scientific Branch of the American Lung Association of New England has a mission to encourage, support and sponsor lung disease research efforts focused on prevention, early detection and best practice treatment including rehabilitation.

MSB research efforts include:

• Dissemination of information regarding available grant opportunities to health professionals throughout New England.
• Use of income generated from MSB activities such as the CTS and MTS annual meetings to sponsor or co-sponsor local research activities through the American Lung Association awards.
• Encouraging donations to the research funds. 
• Provision of news and updates regarding supported projects to MSB members.

American Lung Association Research Grant Opportunities

The application deadline for the 2012 – 2013 American Lung Association Grant program has now passed.  Visit the American Lung Association’s Grant Opportunities page for full details including available grants and their full criteria, timelines and application information.

External Research Opportunities

NIH Funding Opportunity to study the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and/or management of asthma in older adults.  >>More

Funded Research

The American Lung Association Nationwide Research Program has released its Research Awards Nationwide 2011-2012 report that highlights research supported by the American Lung Association through its Asthma Clinical Research Centers (ACRC) and its Awards and Grants Program.

The American Lung Association Nationwide Research Program funds high quality research with the goal of uncovering effective prevention and treatment strategies as well as cures for lung disease.  The Program supports basic, applied and socio-behavioral research related to lung health and is a fundamental part of the Lung Association’s mission to improve lung health and prevent lung disease. 

The American Lung Association funds a number of research projects in New England each year.   Visit the Research Awards Nationwide page to see grants awarded in 2011-2012 by state, by research topic or by grant type. 

The American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Research Centers (ACRC) Network is the nation's largest not-for-profit network of clinical research centers dedicated to asthma treatment research, attracting some of the best asthma investigators worldwide.   The Northern New England Consortium is based at the Vermont Lung Center at the University of Vermont.   Click here for full ACRC information including the list of centers, protocols currently recruiting and major research findings. 

The Massachusetts Thoracic Section is pleased to be currently supporting the research of Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.  The project “Mouse Models of Human Lung Cancer”, now in its second year, will add to the knowledge of how cancer spreads.  The overwhelming majority of the approximately 180,000 patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States each year die from the metastasis, or spread, of their cancer and related complications. To improve the long-term survival of patients with lung cancer, it is critical to develop a better understanding of the processes involved in lung cancer progression and metastasis. Until recently, there has not been a good model system to study lung cancer metastasis in a living organism. The researchers will use a mouse model they have generated that spontaneously develops lung cancer which spreads to distant organs, to genetically dissect the pathways that are involved in lung cancer progression and metastasis. They will also examine the role of the immune system in the development and progression of lung cancer. This research should yield information that can be used to identify crucial new targets involved in lung cancer progression and metastasis for possible new treatments.