Our Research

Announcing Our New Research Program

Over the past 40 years, our commitment to fostering a healthier future for Canadians has led us to invest over $25 million towards research initiatives. These initiatives have carefully aligned with our core mission of improving the lung health of Canadians. They have remained a driving force behind our efforts to prevent lung diseases and enhance the quality of life for individuals affected by such conditions.

A stark illustration of this misalignment can be found in a comprehensive analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO), which compared research funding across 13 different categories of non-communicable diseases. Shockingly, respiratory diseases found themselves at the very bottom of that list. This underscores the glaring disconnect between the burden of diseases like COPD and lower respiratory diseases, which rank as the third and forth leading causes of global deaths respectively, and the funding allocated to combat them.

Now, after taking a critical step back to re-evaluate the program, the Lung Health Foundation is excited to continue providing support for lung health researchers who are dedicated to enhancing the lung health of Canadians.

Starting this fall, we will initiate open calls for grants, with the official launch of the new program slated for January 2024.
The program will commence with the following goals in focus:

Build

We place a strong emphasis on building capacity by directing funds to empower early and mid-career scientists. Our commitment is geared towards nurturing the next generation of lung health researchers, fostering diversity and bringing forward fresh perspectives. Dedicated funding will empower young scientists, enabling them to secure larger government grants, fueling innovation, and ensuring a promising future for lung health research.

Create

LHF is dedicated to creating and advancing knowledge about lung disease. We provide sustainable funding to established researchers in three key areas: basic research, clinical studies and the new applied science stream. This applied science stream aims to translate research into practical benefits for communities and individuals affected by lung disease, representing an innovative approach to make real-world impact.

Support

LHF is dedicated to supporting researchers through various means, including educational workshops, mentorship, collaboration opportunities with patient partners, networking events, fellowships for graduate studies, and travel awards for conferences. These initiatives provide researchers with essential resources to advance their work in lung health.

Develop

LHF is actively developing partnerships with government entities, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, patients and other essential stakeholders to propel research efforts. These collaborative efforts aim to harness expertise, aligning with LHF’s mission in advocacy, programs and education.

Introducing our new Research Community

With the launch of the new research program, we proactively seek and distribute funding to advance lung disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We support researchers with resources like educational workshops, mentorship, letters of support, patient partnerships and networking through our new Research Hub.

The Research Hub is the center of research excellence, encouraging collaboration, mutual learning, and knowledge exchange.

About Our Research

Four Decades of Transformative Research

Over the past 40 years, our research team has achieved remarkable advancements in combating lung disease and has taken positive strides towards improving the respiratory well-being of Canadians.

Some of the contributions includes:

Looking ahead, the goal is to establish a nationwide program that aligns with established research funding criteria. The insights brought forward from the research will contribute to the evidence base on lung health and will directly influence the Lung Health Foundation’s initiatives spanning public awareness, policy, programming, and partnerships moving forward.

Key Program Insights

Over the course of four decades, LHF has maintained a steadfast commitment to research support.
Cumulatively, research funding spanning 40 years has exceeded $25 million.
In the decade from 2009 to 2019, LHF provided funding for a total of 258 awards.
Extrapolating from our comprehensive ten-year data sample (2009-2019), the estimated number of awards funded across four decades is approximately 645.
During the period from 2009 to 2019, we consistently averaged over $1 million in annual funding, signifying a decade of increased financial support.
Over the past ten years of program operation, we have extended support to more than 200 researchers. It is essential to acknowledge that this specific figure cannot be extended to cover the full 40-year history due to the relatively small size of the research community, which naturally involves recurrent recipients over time.

Respiratory Research Breakthroughs

The cystic fibrosis gene was identified in 1989, paving the way for the development of drug treatments. Now, individuals with CF are living longer without needing procedures like lung transplants.

Source: Férec, C. (2021). Cystic fibrosis: From gene discovery to precision medicine. Medecine Sciences: M/S, 37(6-7), 618-624.

In 1964, the United States Surgeon General issued a report highlighting the health risks of smoking. This transformed smoking from an issue of personal choice to one of public health, impacting public attitudes and policy. This was a breakthrough for a variety of lung issues, especially lung cancer.

Source: Surgeon-General, U. S. (1964). Report on Smoking and Health. Dept of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, DC.

The mechanical ventilator was invented during the devastating 1952 polio epidemic in Copenhagen. This invention revolutionized medical care. In the decades that have followed, the technology has advanced considerably, saving lives across all age groups and helping with the development of unique diagnostic innovations.

Source: Kelly, F. E., Fong, K., Hirsch, N., & Nolan, J. P. (2014). Intensive care medicine is 60 years old: the history and future of the intensive care unit. Clinical medicine, 14(4), 376.

The pressurized metered dose inhaler (MDI) was introduced in 1956, serving as a major breakthrough in the treatment of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.

Source: Stein, S. W., & Thiel, C. G. (2017). The history of therapeutic aerosols: a chronological review. Journal of aerosol medicine and pulmonary drug delivery, 30(1), 20-41.

During the 1950 to 1960s, several important contributions were made to the field of pulmonary rehabilitation, highlighting the importance of being physically active for those with COPD. Before then, patients with COPD were advised to avoid activities that result in dyspnea.

Source: Casaburi, R. (2008). A brief history of pulmonary rehabilitation. Respiratory care, 53(9), 1185-1189.