# Defining Pathways in COPD Patient Oriented Research

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2024 · $122,771

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Dr. Han is a physician scientist with a focus in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patient-oriented
research (POR). This renewal application will continue to secure her with protected time to focus on mentoring
and career development. Dr. Han’s career goal is to continue developing a COPD POR program to better
understand disease heterogeneity implicit to this disease so that ultimately disease modifying therapies can be
developed. Protected time from this award would allow her to take additional coursework to acquire new
analytic and mentoring skills. Her mentoring objectives under this award will be to retain protected time
to continue to train residents, fellows, graduate students and junior faculty, focusing in particular on junior
investigators, in particular women and minorities, who are currently underrepresented in COPD POR. Dr. Han
will continue to tailor mentoring plans to each trainee, consisting of one-on-one mentoring sessions,
collaboration with statisticians and formal educational opportunities in analytic methods and the responsible
conduct of research. The resources available at the University of Michigan (UM) including the UM Pulmonary
Division Multidisciplinary Training Grant and the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research/Clinical &
Translational Science Award provide an ideal infrastructure for POR training. Dr. Han’s scientific aims for this
proposal will leverage several newly funded projects to provide training opportunities for junior investigators.
Emerging data suggest that COPD begins much earlier in life than previously appreciated. CT analytic
techniques (Parametric Response Mapping, PRM) developed at UM can identify small airway disease,
believed to be the precursor lesion to emphysema. Dr. Han is Co-PI of an extension to the SPIROMICS cohort
(HL144718) that is recruiting 30-55 year-old current and former smokers either at risk for COPD or with mild to
moderate established COPD. In Aim 1, we will use these data in early COPD to determine whether PRM
defined small airways disease can be identified in such individuals to predict disease progression. The second
specific aim of this proposal will use data generated by R01 (HL150023) for which Dr. Han is contact PI. In Aim
2, longitudinal PRM analyses in the COPDGene cohort will be performed to determine 10-year longitudinal
trajectories for evolution of small airways disease and emphysema among at risk current and former smokers
aged 40-80, with and without COPD. Together these analyses provide data on a novel imaging biomarker
across the lifespan and disease severity spectrum and provide a wealth of research opportunities for junior
investigators. Dr. Han is at an ideal stage of her career to take advantage of a K24 award. She is deeply
committed to her investigative career in COPD POR. This application also aligns with two NHLBI missions: (1)
to promote research, training, and education for the prevention and treatment of lung disease; and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10892102
- **Project number:** 5K24HL138188-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** MeiLan K Han
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $122,771
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10892102

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10892102, Defining Pathways in COPD Patient Oriented Research (5K24HL138188-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10892102. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*