William Zhengyang Zhang, M.D.

We have recently shown using both clinical data from a large COPD study as well as experimental data from an animal COPD model that abnormal regulation of the nutritional metal, iron, may be an important factor in the development of the disease. We will explore the impact of iron dysregulation on the function of patrolling immune cells of the lung, called alveolar macrophages, in the setting of COPD. It is our hypothesis that iron accumulation in these cells negatively affects their function, which directly leads to an increased risk for infection and to COPD progression. We believe that the results of these studies may lead to the development of novel COPD treatments that target iron, adding to the arsenal of pulmonologists who care for COPD patients.