# The Role of Airway Morphology in Environmental LungDiseases

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $167,142

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ ABSTRACT
Candidate: Coralynn Sack MD, MPH, plans for a career as a translational clinician scientist in
the field of environmental lung diseases. The purpose of this award is to provide the essential
support and training to help facilitate her transition to an independent investigator. Dr. Sack has
assembled a team of inter-disciplinary mentors, led by Dr. Joel Kaufman, who are experts in air
pollution epidemiology, toxicology, advanced imaging, airway characterization, biostatistics and
translational science – skills that she hopes to further develop and refine during this proposed
award. By incorporating formal coursework, personalized technical training and protected
research time in a structured learning plan, she is ideally positioned to contribute substantially to
our understanding of the impact of air pollution on lung health.
Research: Exposure to environmental agents is a leading cause of chronic lung diseases and
global mortality. Airway morphology may be an important determinant of disease pathobiology
by modifying the site of deposition and internalized dose of environmental exposures. This
proposal contains a thematically integrated set of epidemiologic and translational studies that
seek to elucidate the role of the airway in environmental lung diseases. The objectives of the
planned research include: 1) to determine whether airway characteristics modify the association
between air pollution and COPD in a population based cohort and a cohort of individuals with
COPD; 2) investigate the proposed mechanistic pathway using an experimental murine model.
The work in this proposal examines a novel and important hypothesis related to susceptibility to
environmental agents that could have significant public health implications.
Environment: The University of Washington is an ideal setting for Dr. Sack’s research training.
The resources and facilities available at UW are uniquely suited to the successful completion of
this project, combining excellence in epidemiologic studies on air pollution with state-of-the art
laboratory-based research. The research environment at UW is outstanding, with a strong
commitment to furthering the academic careers of junior investigators. There is a long,
published history of successful partnerships between the University and Dr. Sack’s collaborators
at outside institutions. Dr. Sack will have support from the nationally renowned UW School of
Public Health, the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep
Medicine, and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10006007
- **Project number:** 5K23ES030725-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Coralynn Shayna Sack
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $167,142
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10006007

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10006007, The Role of Airway Morphology in Environmental LungDiseases (5K23ES030725-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10006007. Licensed CC0.

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