Grant: CIHR REDI Early Career Transition Award - HIV/AIDS and STBBI

Scientific advances in human health have led to longer life expectancy worldwide. In Canada, the aging population (65 years and older) will grow by 68 percent (10.4 million people) in the next 20 years, making healthy aging a nationwide concern. Aging is a risk factor for many conditions and diseases, including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which is a lung disease characterized by breathing difficulties. Some individuals appear to be at a higher risk of developing age-related conditions, such as COPD, even at a relatively early stage of life, but it is not clear why. For instance, people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) develop COPD earlier than their uninfected counterparts. My research has shown that the lungs of COPD patients are also characterized by advanced aging. This age acceleration appears to be even worse in PLWH. However, the biology of age acceleration in these populations is not yet fully understood. In the first phase of this project, using a computational approach, I will investigate how epigenetics (modifications to an individual's DNA) contribute to rapid aging in COPD and HIV-associated COPD. I will then develop so-called "aging clocks" to calculate lung age based on specific markers in the lung tissues of healthy people and COPD patients. The findings of Phase 1 will set the foundation for my transition to an independent researcher. In Phase 2, I will continue testing the ability of lung- and COPD-specific clocks to predict clinical outcomes, while also working towards investigating the progression of aging in the general population and in different diseases through genomic integration.