Aims and objectives

It has become apparent in recent years that patients suffering from asthma and COPD, can be categorised into specific phenotypes depending on the underlying inflammatory profiles.

The overall research strategy is implementation of translational study of difficult airways disease, from bedside to bench: To characterise the real-life population of patients to identify and validate biomarkers for use in the clinical setting to facilitate personalised treatment, for the benefit of the society. Furthermore, to investigate exercise related shortness of breath in elite athletes and ordinary patients: inflammatory phenotypes, mechanisms, treatment and doping.

Focus areas

Severe obstructive airways disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality, and there is a need for better understanding and management of these conditions. The emergence of new biological drugs for treatment of the obstructive lung diseases, asthma and COPD, are paving the way for personalised and improved treatment of large patient groups.

The prevalence of asthma in endurance sport is as high as 30-50%. In elite athletes, exercise-induced asthma symptoms are reported by 100%, thus representing a major challenge in these patients.

Disciplines, methods and tools

The Respiratory Research Unit utilizes a wide range of approaches to investigate airways disease: Epidemiological population studies using national databases. Real life clinical patient populations. Extensive characterization of patients, using measures of airway and systemic inflammation (induced sputum, bronchoscopy, blood) and pathophysiologcal measures such as AHR, FOT, VO2max, EVH and CLE. Translational studies of imunological mechanisms+collaborative studies of co-morbidities in severe airways disease; prevalence and describing the effects of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.