Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine | Professor, BIO5 Institute | Professor, Physiology | Professor, Physiological Sciences - GIDP | Associate Research Scientist, Respiratory Sciences | Member of the Graduate Faculty
Scott Boitano, PhD, and his lab focus on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Lung disease is expanding worldwide, and is one of the top uncontrolled American epidemics. It leaves about 900,000 Americans too ill to work, costing billions in medical care and lost productivity. Most of the disease is linked to smoking and to environmental and occupational conditions. Dr. Boitano’s main focus is the affect of arsenic on the lung’s epithelial cells. The interactions between arsenic and the body’s tissues affect lives not just in Chile, Mexico, or Bangladesh – where arsenic in drinking water can reach very dangerous levels of up to 500 or even 1,000 ppb—but everywhere. Dr. Boitano is studying the long-term risks found in many American cities and towns where arsenic values are between 50 and 10 ppb, and where there are strong changes in how cells signal each other and repair wounds.
Dr. Scott Boitano from Physiology has been awarded a grant by the DPT of Health & Human Services for his research on asthma and protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2). The project focuses on developing new asthma treatments by controlling PAR2 signaling, which plays a role in allergic responses. Key aspects of the grant include:
1. Investigating the impact of PAR2 modulation on airway epithelial cells and sensory neurons in vitro and in pre-clinical asthma models.
2. Uncovering the mechanisms of PAR2 roles in allergic asthma and providing cellular targeting for the development of novel asthma drugs.
3. Demonstrating the potential of small molecule pharmacological control of PAR2 signaling as a novel strategy for asthma protection.
4. Utilizing a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to gain a better understanding of PAR2's role in allergic asthma and human validation for potential drug development.