University of Victoria

Purpose

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disorder that affects 384 million people worldwide and is responsible for over 3 million deaths/year, making it the third leading cause of mortality. COPD is also the top 1 reason for hospitalization in Canada. Alveolar Macrophages (AMs) are the most abundant immune cells in the human airways. Although AM is well known for its critical role in fighting pathogens and maintaining lung homeostasis, it is unclear how these cells change in COPD states. Precisely deconvolute the AM compositions and associating them to COPD clinical outcomes will provide a great opportunity to better understand COPD. The primary objective of this study is to develop digital technologies to discover AM biomarkers for novel COPD therapy by integrating both bulk and single cell omics data. This study will demonstrate the translational capabilities of single-cell ‘omics technologies and provide biomarker candidates for immunotherapy of COPD.