University of Vermont (UV Consortium)

The Vermont Lung Center (VLC) was established in the late 1970's as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Lung Disease Demonstration Center of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The VLC has a long history of investigating lung disease, initially related to exposures through hard rock mining and the development of lung fibrosis. In 1998, the VLC was revitalized with a focus on airways disease, particularly asthma.

The VLC director, Dr. Irvin, is joined by Drs. Dixon and Kaminsky in providing expertise and leadership in multiple areas of lung research. Dr. Anne Dixon, the Division Chief of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine, has been the lead investigator on American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Center (ACRC) studies SIRNA and STAN. She has an international reputation in the investigation of the impact of obesity on airways disease. Dr. David Kaminsky, an expert in pulmonary physiology, has been engaged in a number of ACRC studies and has studied a yoga breathing intervention that is being developed into a new ACRC protocol for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The VLC is recruiting participants in over 50 clinical trials funded by industry, intra- and extramural sources. The VLC is also a significant participant in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation-Therapeutic Development Network and was a study site for the novel CFTR modulator that recently was FDA approved. We are recruiting participants for studies in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), having been involved in a number of the pivotal trials of new IPF treatments. The VLC has been increasingly involved in the study of new therapeutic interventions for COPD, having recently finished a pilot study of yoga breathing and is currently assessing lobar valve insertion as a treatment of COPD. We have also initiated a study of e-cigarettes in an experimental model. Investigators of the VLC also lead and participate in multicenter trials of new therapeutic approaches for treating patients in the ICU and improving family communication. We are proud of our role in the ACRC as it continues the record of leadership and participation in the development of new therapies to treat lung disease.