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Over 2 million Canadians are affected by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), an ongoing lung condition characterized by trouble breathing, coughing, and wheezing. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in Canada and is the third leading cause of death in the world. It is estimated that COPD costs the Canadian health care system over $1.5B annually, [1] and looms as a $10B healthcare crisis in Canada by 2030.[2] 

Many COPD complications are caused by symptom flair-ups, which are caused by environmental triggers. One such trigger is wildfire smoke, which is becoming more common due to climate change. Unfortunately, it is unknown how wildfire smoke affects the biology of COPD in the lungs and blood of patients. This limits our ability to protect and treat people with COPD exposed to wildfire smoke. 

This research project, led by Drs Graeme Koelwyn and Don Sin, aims to study the genomic changes that occur in the most common immune cells in the lungs of COPD patients. This study proposes determining whether COPD changes both the shape of the DNA in these cells, and the expression of genes, and how these genomic changes amplify the body’s response to wildfire smoke and worsening symptoms.  

In the face of climate change, the results of this study may provide data to inform disease management, strategies to mitigate exposure for those living with COPD, and potentially leading to improvements in the societal and financial impacts of COPD. 

[1] COPD: A focus on high users: https://www.cihi.ca/en/copd-a-focus-on-high-users-infographic 

[2] COPD: A $10 Billion Threat to Canada’s Healthcare System by 2030: https://lunghealth.ca/copd-a-10-billion-threat-to-canadas-healthcare-system-by-2030/