Yale University Researcher Awarded American Lung Association Grant to Study Pulmonary Fibrosis

Lung health research is more important than ever. Never have we faced so many challenges to our lung health, including COVID-19, vaping and smoke from increased wildfires. Today, the American Lung Association in Connecticut announced that Aglaia Ntokou, PhD from Yale University was awarded the Dalsemer Research Grant to study Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Dr. Ntokou will study idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and how the lung’s excessive scar tissue associated with IPF is formed due to cellular changes and interactions in an effort to prevent lung function impairment. She aims to uncover part of the process that turns naive cells to activated injury contributors.  This work promises to identify novel targets that will be helpful in developing new treatments to combat lung fibrosis.

“Here in Connecticut we face lung health challenges every day and more than 489,000 people living with chronic lung disease,” said Daniel Bowler, Executive Director at the Lung Association in Connecticut. “We are excited for Dr. Ntokou to join the American Lung Association Research Team to help improve lung health here in Connecticut and across the nation.” 

Dr. Ntokou said, “During my Bachelor and Master research I was focused on metabolism and animal physiology as an early indicator of the climate crisis. In the initial stages of my graduate studies, my mother was diagnosed with melanoma metastatic to the lung, motivating me to pursue research in lung development and disease for my PhD studies and triggering my passion and long-term professional goal to make seminal contributions in the field of respiratory pathophysiology. The American Lung Association has been an inspiring hub attracting top researchers to add towards resolution of the most common or rare diseases. I am excited that today I am part of this effort. Improving people's lives through new findings and collaborative work is a great drive for my studies. 

In the 2022-2023 grants cycle, the Lung Association is funding $13.2 million for more than 130 lung health research grants. For this round of funding, the organization placed a greater focus on strategic partnerships with key organizations like American Thoracic Society and CHEST, and grants that focus on equity like the Harold Amos Scholar.

Research projects funded by the Lung Association are carefully selected through rigorous scientific review and awardees represent the investigation of a wide range of complex issues. Awards were given in eight different categories; ALA/AAAAI Allergic Respiratory Diseases Award, ALA/ATS/CHEST Foundation Respiratory Health Equity Research Award, Catalyst Award, COVID-19 Respiratory Virus Research Award, Dalsemer Award, Innovation Award, Lung Cancer Discovery Award, and Public Policy Research Award. 

The Lung Association’s Nationwide Research Program includes the Awards and Grants Program, and also our Airways Clinical Research Network, the nation's largest not-for-profit network of clinical research centers dedicated to asthma and COPD treatment research.

For more information about the new grant awardees and the entire American Lung Association Research Team, visit Lung.org/research-team.