Research summary
Every day, we breathe air that contains a complex mix of potentially harmful substances. For the millions of Canadians who live with chronic lung diseases, this can lead to breathing difficulties, hospital visits or even death-ultimately contributing to more than $12 billion in health-care costs every year.
Dr. Jeremy Hirota, Canada Research Chair in Respiratory Mucosal Immunology, is exploring how the air we breathe impacts lung health. He and his research team are defining the role of ABC transporters in the lung mucosa and their relevance in multiple lung diseases. (ABC transporters are a family of transmembrane proteins that can transport a variety of substances across biological membranes.) They are also modelling the lung health impacts of cannabis and creating novel lung model systems. Ultimately, their work will reshape lung research and could lead to new drug treatments for lung diseases.