# Understanding the interstitial phenotype of impaired respiratory health through CT imaging and blood biomarkers

> **NIH NIH F32** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $76,246

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The goal of this NRSA individual postdoctoral fellowship is to facilitate Dr. Gabrielle Liu’s development
as an independent physician-scientist and a leader in respiratory epidemiology, with a focus on the primary
prevention and interception of interstitial lung disease (ILD). The candidate and her mentors have designed a
specific training plan that builds upon her background in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and clinical
investigation and aims toward launching her career as an independent investigator. This plan includes
developing additional skills during the award period through (1) coursework designed to expand her knowledge
and training in clinical research techniques, (2) interaction with a multidisciplinary team of sponsors and
collaborators, including those in pulmonary, advanced imaging and epidemiology, and (3) a supervised
research project with national funding.
 The overall scientific objective of this project is to identify markers of subclinical ILD and impaired
respiratory health with an interstitial phenotype through two primary specific aims: (1) determine what blood
biomarkers are associated with CT lung injury in middle age (CARDIA year 25) and (2) determine whether CT
lung injury and protein biomarkers at CARDIA year 25 are associated with the development of visually
identified interstitial lung abnormalities in CARDIA year 35. This will be the first study to obtain both quantitative
measures of lung injury as well as qualitative, visual assessments of interstitial lung abnormalities in the
Coronary Artery Disease Risk in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort. The CARDIA cohort has multiple strengths,
including the original enrollment of young adults aged 18-30, 51% of participants identifying as Black or
African-American, and having 35 years of follow-up data. In the report from the NHLBI Workshop on the
Primary Prevention of Chronic Lung Diseases: Interstitial Lung Disease, the first priority research area listed
was improving strategies for early detection of disease. The authors argue for the need to develop methods
that objectively measure CT scan features in order to screen large populations at risk for future development of
pulmonary fibrosis. Our proposal advances that stated goal by validating a novel imaging method for
objectively detecting the earliest manifestations of lung injury and determining plasma biomarkers associated
with CT lung injury and future ILA that may allow for refined ILD risk assessment.
 This project, along with the proposed coursework and mentorship plan, will allow Dr. Liu to become
proficient in clinical research methodology with an emphasis on longitudinal cohort studies, data analysis and
management, advanced imaging analysis, and scientific writing. The skills developed as part of this project will
serve as a guide for future investigation into both blood and imaging biomarkers of subclinical ILD that can be
targeted to intercept interstitial lung disease at its earliest st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10387553
- **Project number:** 1F32HL162318-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gabrielle Liu
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $76,246
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-02-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10387553

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10387553, Understanding the interstitial phenotype of impaired respiratory health through CT imaging and blood biomarkers (1F32HL162318-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10387553. Licensed CC0.

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