DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This P30 application seeks to provide resources to recruit Dr. Eric Schmidt to lead the Molecular Physiology and Imaging Core (MPIC) in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine. The Division is based at the University of CO Denver and encompasses the University's affiliate faculty (at National Jewish Health, Denver Health and Hospital System, and the Denver VA Hospital). The research expertise encompasses acute lung injury (ALI), pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, COPD, occupational medicine, interstitial lung diseases and asthma, among others. The Division is an integral participant of the NIH-funded CO Clinical and Translational Sciences, University of CO Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Program Project Grant in the Cardiovascular Pulmonary Research (CVP) Lab. The Division has membership in every NHLBI Lung Division Clinical Network, including the ARDSnet, COPDnet, IPFnet, and the Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN). The Division has gathered substantial institutional resources to implement the Program in Translational Lung Research, which will support the MPIC. The MPIC will be built with a focus on ALI, in its protean manifestations. This emphasis is based on the overall relevance of ALI and the breadth of pathogenetic mechanisms, which ultimately are part of several lung disease processes. The expertise of the MPIC will also extend to studies in pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease, and cigarette smoke induced lung injury. The choice to recruit Dr. Schmidt to establish this Core was based on a selective process of recruitment, professional development, career support, and long-term retention plans. With the direct support of the PI, Dr. Mark Geraci, and Drs. Ivor Douglas and Rubin Tuder, Dr. Schmidt will coordinate the interaction across affiliated programs & the Division & Departments within the medical school (Medicine, Anesthesiology and Pediatrics), the Colorado CTSI, and programmatic initiatives involving the CVP, and the imaging core at the Department of Medicine. A research committee, which will include several established NIH-funded investigators in lung diseases, will assist Dr. Schmidt with the administration of the Core. A plan to assess the Core, scientific productivity, and Dr. Schmidt's career development & mentorship are in place. This proposal targets the integrated physiological and imaging study of acute lung injury, which compromises 190,000 patients per year. The proposed MPIC provides a central experimental element for the successful translation from/to clinical data and relevant model systems, as it synergizes with a range of other methodologies, which in isolation cannot address the complexity of pulmonary diseases, including acute lung injury.

This proposal targets the integrated physiological and imaging study of acute lung injury, which compromises 190,000 patients per year. The proposed MPIC provides a central experimental element for the successful translation from/to clinical data and relevant model systems, as it synergizes with a range of other methodologies, which in isolation cannot address the complexity of pulmonary diseases, including acute lung injury.