In a new video presented by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), “Mapping Technology Supports Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients,” the Department of Internal Medicine's Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine (Yale-PCCSM) physicians share their research into idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as part of their Interstitial Lung Disease Program, in collaboration with Three Lakes Foundation.
IPF is a progressive, fatal disease which creates lung scarring and reduces one’s ability to breathe. Unfortunately, there is an overall lack of awareness of the disease, in addition to a lack of funding to study new treatments for IPF patients.
“Pulmonary fibrosis is a rare disease, and that is part of the issue with lack of funding,” said Danielle Antin-Ozerkis, MD, medical director, Yale Interstitial Lung Disease Center of Excellence. “This [disease] affects a lot of patients. It really affects their life, their livelihood, their ability to do their work, their ability to do the things that they love.”
Yale-PCCSM’s partnership with the Three Lakes Foundation has generated data and insights that have allowed scientists in the section to create. Scientists in the section have created an innovative high-resolution mapping technology, the Pulmonary Fibrosis Cell Atlas, to create a cellular blueprint of the human lung. “We wanted to do this technology of being able to profile every single cell in the pulmonary fibrosis lung to understand how abnormal they are so we can try and start thinking of how we can fix them,” explained Kaminski. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Cell Atlas is a public web tool for use by other scientists around the world.
In addition to Antin-Ozerkis and Kaminski, Art Kirschenbaum, speaks in the video, sharing his experience with the disease. Kirschenbaum lost both his wife and son to IPF. “I am so thankful for the care my wife and son received at Yale New Haven Hospital.”
“The Three Lakes Foundation is really helping us accelerate time from discovery to patient care and that is what is vital,” said Antin-Ozerkis.
“Mapping Technology Supports Pulmonary Fibrosis Patients,” is one of the videos in the docuseries that highlights Yale-PCCSM’s work. The second video, “Compassion and Collaboration to Treat Pulmonary Disease” showcases the section’s mission of collaboration, community, work-life balance, and equity.
The docuseries is produced by dBase Media.
The Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine is one of the eleven sections within YSM’s Department of Internal Medicine. To learn more about Yale-PCCSM, visit PCCSM’s website, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.