Cystic Fibrosis Research
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a common hereditary disease in the U.S. USU researcher Harvey Pollard, M.D., Ph.D., is the lead investigator for an NIH-funded project investigating the disease.
The goal of the effort is to deliver 3-D proteomics—an innovative, sensitive, quantitative and dynamic technology for studying large groups of proteins in CF lung cells and CF patient biopsy tissue. It is part of an initiative by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the NIH.
Proteomics is the study of the ensemble of all proteins expressed in the cell. Diseases such as cystic fibrosis cause changes in the expression levels of many proteins, some of which may be revealed to be disease biomarkers or therapeutic targets. The award furthers research at the Center for Medical genomics and Proteomics, part of the USU Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics.