President's Research Report: What You Make Possible

A Message from the President

For more than a century, medical breakthroughs have helped people with lung disease live longer, healthier lives. These include vaccines that prevent severe respiratory illness, biomarker testing that can match the genetics of a tumor with optimal treatment, and new treatments—74 for lung cancer alone since 2016.

Unfortunately, recent cuts to the National Institutes of Health, including dollars, programs and staff that support medical research, threaten to slow this momentum of discovery.

However, thanks to your ongoing support, the American Lung Association Research Institute™ continues its robust funding of lung health science. In 2025, we invested nearly $22 million in research conducted by some of the best and brightest scientists; our Airways Clinical Research Centers (ACRC), the nation’s largest nonprofit network of clinical research centers dedicated to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and our strategic partnerships focused on better preventing, identifying and treating lung disease. Our growing research investment has made us one of the largest private funders of lung health research in the United States. 

This President’s Research Report highlights some of our most exciting projects, including research on indoor air quality and child lung health, the link between asthma and gut health, and strategies that may allow for the interception of lung cells before they become cancerous.

Your generosity is truly helping to save lives. And together, we’re just getting started. 

Introducing the American Lung Association Research Institute

More than 34 million people in America live with lung disease. When combined with lung cancer and respiratory diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, lung disease is the number one cause of death by disease in America. 

To address this critical health challenge, the American Lung Association Research Institute was launched in March of 2023 to increase lung disease research investment to $25 million, expand industry collaboration and empower promising scientists to accelerate discovery and innovation. 

Why is this important? 

We fund research on a broad range of lung diseases to provide solutions, treatments and cures for people suffering from lung disease. We empower promising scientists to accelerate discovery and innovation through convening experts, funding research and sharing knowledge across the field of lung health. 

The Research Institute will:

Increase Research Investment through our Awards and Grants program to $25 million per year by 2030, funding cutting-edge studies across all lung diseases. 

Expand clinical research to broaden the scope of lung diseases studied in addition to our nationwide Airways Clinical Research Centers, focusing on clinical trials to improve patient care and outcomes. 

Collaborate with government, non-profits and industry partners through our Accelerator Program, which invests in mid- to late-stage research to accelerate development and commercialization of medical devices, therapeutics and diagnostics. 

Convene Science Forums to discuss important topics in lung health, publish white papers, and foster collaborations to bring together the top minds in lung disease research to investigate pressing issues that threaten lung health. 

For more information about the American Lung Association Research Institute, visit Lung.org/research.

ACRC Study Reaches Historic Milestone

The American Lung Association Lung Health Cohort Study Recruits its 1400th Participant

For decades, the clinical community has defined lung health as the absence of disease, that is, the lungs of patients are assumed to be healthy until they present with respiratory symptoms like cough, shortness of breath or wheezing. However, by the time their test results show some abnormalities, it might be too late to intervene. 

The American Lung Association Lung Health Cohort study focuses on young adults aged 25-35, tracking them for five years to explore how their environment, lifestyle choices and physical activity habits influence their long-term respiratory well-being. The study recently reached a significant milestone of 1,400 millennials recruited, well on the way to the target 4,000 required for the study. 

Dr. Ravi Kalhan, the Lung Health Cohort Principal Investigator at Northwestern Medicine, emphasizes the study’s significance: “Our goal is for this study to fundamentally change the burden of lung health in the U.S. By looking at the lung health of millennials and tracking them for many years, we hope to learn more about how our environment and behaviors impact lung health.”

Your Support Continues the Research Life Cycle

Every dollar empowers the brightest scientists to make a breakthrough impact in lung disease research.