# UNC Research Training Program in Respiratory Diseases and Critical Care

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2024 · $563,600

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
This proposal for a new T32 Program titled “UNC Research Training Program in Respiratory Diseases and
Critical Care” at The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill supports 6 postdoctoral trainees with M.D.,
M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. degrees for research training in lung disease, emphasizing a joint training program for
Medicine and Pediatric trainees. The Program provides multidisciplinary training in basic, translation and clinical
research within the pulmonary and critical care divisions of the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics and our
three Research Centers devoted to understanding lung health and disease. Our Program offers a Training
Faculty of 48 trainers (38 mentors, 8 junior mentors and 2 co-mentors) from 7 clinical (2) and basic science (5)
departments in the School of Medicine. M.D. trainees will enter at years 3-5 in their clinical and research training,
designed to provide them with skills required for a leadership career in academic pulmonary medicine. Ph.D.
trainees will typically enter in the second year of their post-doctoral fellowship, and they will be well integrated
into the basic, translational and clinical aspects of their project. Each trainee will have a scholarly oversight
committee that includes mentors from varying disciplines who will facilitate their scientific growth and career
development, including grant writing and leadership skills. Each trainee will be welcomed into a DEI culture, will
take workshops, and will become embedded in this culture. Each area of lung research is multidisciplinary in
nature and emphasizes a broader knowledge of the basic, translational, clinical and impact implications for each
trainee's question. Areas of research include cystic fibrosis, primary ciliary dyskinesia, idiopathic bronchiectasis,
cell and molecular biology of airway epithelia in health and disease, leukocyte kinetics and clinical research in
COPD, control of airway inflammation, inflammatory and innate immune responses during ARDS and bacterial
and viral infections, clinical trials, comparative effectiveness research, analyses of qualitative narrative data, and
large cohort studies in critical care, basic and translational proteomics of airways and alveoli, the airway
microbiome in health and disease, the responses to injury by physical, chemical, and microbial environmental
agents, and clinical and basic science studies in asthma. Novel programs that exemplify the multi-disciplinary
nature include ARDS and Critical Care Research, the CF Research Program, and Combustion-induced
Bronchitis in the Military, each of which require cross-disciplinary interactions amongst a wide range of expertise
to accomplish their goals. Clinical studies will be integrated with basic observations using translational
physiologic, biochemical, molecular and genetic technologies, and -omics approaches and will provide training
in state-of-the-art –omics and other basic technologies, bioinformatics, database design, use ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10850658
- **Project number:** 5T32HL166141-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard Charles Boucher
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $563,600
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10850658

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10850658, UNC Research Training Program in Respiratory Diseases and Critical Care (5T32HL166141-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10850658. Licensed CC0.

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