# CHANGE OF GRANTEE INSTITUTION  1 K23 AA024503 Alcohol, Burn-Injury, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $191,434

## Abstract

Burn injury and hazardous alcohol use are separate risk factors for development of the acute respiratory
distress syndrome (ARDS), a common cause of respiratory failure. ARDS is an important manifestation of
pulmonary immune dysfunction, and over a quarter of these patients progress to multiple organ failure and die.
Clinical studies have established key prognostic plasma biomarkers in non-burn patients with ARDS. Animal
experiments clearly demonstrate elevated BAC exacerbates the harmful effects of burn injury via the
pulmonary and systemic innate immune response. Unfortunately, the role of elevated BAC or of hazardous
alcohol use on the development of ARDS in burn patients has not been evaluated. Clinical studies on risk
prediction for ARDS development in burn patients are needed to target patients for prevention and therapeutic
trials. Applying mediation analysis, a novel and robust statistical tool, and validating a new direct alcohol
biomarker are methods in this application to better examine the association of hazardous alcohol use on ARDS
development. My two central hypotheses are that hazardous alcohol use in burn patients is associated with
development of ARDS and that combining clinical and biological factors can accurately predict development of
ARDS in burn patients. Therefore, the specific aims of the study are to (1) identify the risk for development
of ARDS associated with different levels of BAC using mediation analysis; (2) derive and internally
validate an ARDS risk prediction model using clinical risk factors and biomarkers in burn patients; (3)
identify and validate a cutoff for PEth level for hazardous alcohol use in comparison to the AUDIT.
The proposed 5-year research training will provide needed new information in a relatively unexplored area of
alcohol and critical care research. One important facet of my research is to continue using the biomarker as a
tool to link traditional molecular and epidemiological research and understand alcohol's immunologic role in the
critically ill patient. This translational research proposal allows me to develop new uses for biomarkers in
alcohol and burn and apply them in a clinical setting to potentially identify risk factors for ARDS. The The long
term goal of current proposal therefore is to inform the design of future clinical trials in a targeted population.
Co-mentorship from Dr. Kovacs, an expert in alcohol and inflammation, and Dr. Cooper, an expert in
translation research and molecular epidemiology, will ultimately enable me to become an independent clinician
scientist. My advisory team of experts in alcohol epidemiology, alcohol biomarkers, and ARDS will support my
short- and long-term goals. The collaborative and interdisciplinary environment of the Alcohol Research
Program and Burn and Shock Trauma Research Institute at Loyola University Chicago, one of the largest
statewide burn referral centers in the Midwest, are ideal for this proposal. The impact of the work from this
app...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10204442
- **Project number:** 7K23AA024503-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Majid Afshar
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $191,434
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2020-09-23 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10204442

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10204442, CHANGE OF GRANTEE INSTITUTION  1 K23 AA024503 Alcohol, Burn-Injury, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (7K23AA024503-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10204442. Licensed CC0.

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