# T cells in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

> **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2020 · $165,456

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
This is an application for a K23 Career Development Award for Catherine A. Bonham, MD who is an
immunologist and a pulmonary critical care physician at the University of Chicago. She is building a career as a
translational immunologist-pulmonologist, capable of bringing cutting edge immunology from the bench to the
bedside to understand the interaction of the immune system with the development of pulmonary fibrosis. This
K23 award will provide Dr. Bonham with the support necessary to achieve the following goals: 1) develop
advanced immunology expertise for understanding immune dysregulation associated with idiopathic pulmonary
fibrosis (IPF) progression and mortality; 2) develop biostatistical expertise in the analysis of biospecimen and
clinical data collected longitudinally from patients with IPF, and 3) gain new skills and expertise in T cell
metabolism alterations in hypoxia. To achieve these goals, Dr. Bonham has assembled a mentoring team led
by primary mentor, Dr. Anne Sperling, who is a pulmonary immunologist with experience in human blood and
tissue immunology, with co-mentors Dr. Gokhan Mutlu, who is Section Chief of Pulmonary Critical Care with
expertise in cellular metabolism and IPF, and Dr. Matthew Churpek, a pulmonologist and PhD biostatistical
expert. The proposed research will be conducted at the University of Chicago, one of the nation's leading
private universities and home to renowned divisions of immunology, pulmonary medicine, and biostatistics,
with state-of-the-art facilities to enable cutting-edge research.
IPF remains a deadly disease with few treatment options and none that are curative. One of the most
challenging and poorly understood features of IPF is the inhomogeneity of disease progression and hence
variable quality of life and survival outcomes. Individualized prognostication and treatment plans are thus not
truly possible; in addition, the variability of disease course can make selection of endpoints for clinical trials
challenging. Genomic studies that analyze stable versus rapidly progressive IPF patients have repeatedly
shown significant associations with immune system pathways, though the role of the immune system in IPF
has been historically controversial. Dr. Bonham's preliminary data indicates that long-term IPF survivors with
preserved lung function highly express two distinct costimulatory molecules on circulating CD4+ T cells, CD28
and Inducible Costimulator (ICOS). Dr. Bonham's central hypothesis is that IPF patients with ICOS high CD4+
T cells have preserved effector memory T cell differentiation, and cytokine production that is responsive to
hypoxia and resistant to IPF progression. In her aims she will systematically examine the effector functions of
ICOShi cells and how circulating CD4+ T cell ICOS expression reflects altered tissue resident T cell
phenotypes and effector functions. Finally, she will determine how T cell costimulation and effector function is
modulated by IPF tiss...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9990855
- **Project number:** 5K23HL143135-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Catherine Ann Bonham
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $165,456
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9990855

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9990855, T cells in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (5K23HL143135-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9990855. Licensed CC0.

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