Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Brigham & Women's Hospital, a subsidiary of Partners Healthcare System Incorporated, received a $268,500 Project Grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), awarded on July 1, 2026, with a completion date of June 30, 2028. The grant funds a research initiative titled "Using Multi-Omic and Network Analysis to Understand Gene Dosage Effect in COPD" (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), to be conducted at the Department of Faulkner Pathology in Boston, Massachusetts.

Under this award, the research team will conduct multi-omic and gene regulatory network analyses using data from four large, well-characterized COPD cohort studies (COPDGene, LTRC, LTCOPD, and ECLIPSE) to advance understanding of X-linked transcription factors and their role in COPD heterogeneity. The project will deliver two primary research outputs: (1) gene regulatory network analyses identifying X-linked transcription factor targets and associated pathways that predict variability in lung function and emphysema severity; and (2) integrated analyses incorporating genetic and epigenetic data to identify alterations in gene promoter regions and their association with COPD disease variation. These research deliverables aim to generate the first comprehensive network map of X-linked transcription factor regulation in COPD, addressing a significant gap in understanding the X chromosome's contribution to disease mechanisms and phenotypic variability.