Research

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and of the top ten causes of death, it is the only one that has been steadily increasing over the past decade. The goal of this project is to identify and correlate the genetic risk factors and phenotypic features that underlie COPD. The cohort is designed to initially be used in a cross-sectional design but is also designed for future longitudinal follow-up. The first phase of this study is a genome-wide screen using a conventional case-control design (stratified by racial groups). Subsequent confirmation of SNPs (single gene polymorphisms) yielding statistical signals will be carried out in a second phase of independent case-control analysis. Finally, we will conduct detailed analysis of genes/regions around these confirmed SNPs that appear to influence risk of COPD. We are also validating the effects of genes identified here in two external family-based populations and a large group of mild COPD cases (GOLD Stage 1). Over time, the phenotypic, pathophysiologic and genetic data collected here can be used to identify factors that control progression of COPD as these subjects are followed prospectively.

Currently we are recruiting African American and non-Hispanic white men and women who have a smoking history and a COPD GOLD 1-4 diagnosis, a smoking history with no COPD, smoking unclassified subjects, and non-smoking controls. Do date we have recruited over 7500 subjects in the COPDGene® Study and continue to meet or exceed our monthly recruitment goals. We aim to accomplish out total recruitment goal of 10,000 within the next year.

To see a list of COPDGene Study documents which include questionnaires, forms and other related material, please click HERE

For more information on COPDGene Study genetics, click HERE

For more information on COPDGene Study Imaging, click HERE

If you are a COPDGene® researcher or affiliate, click HERE for a direct link to the DCC hosted COPDGene® Study working website.