Breath of Air: Navigating COPD

Podcast series: Understanding COPD

Learning objectives:

• Understand the heterogeneity of COPD, as well as both the historical and current phenotypes and endotypes that help characterize patients and inform clinical outcomes
• Discuss the role of type 2 inflammation in the pathophysiology of COPD
• Highlight how an understanding of COPD pathophysiology and type 2 inflammation can be applied in patient endotyping, leading to more personalized and effective approaches to patient care
• Identify the burden of COPD on patient well-being
• Gain a deeper understanding of the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in providing comprehensive COPD care

Many faces of COPD: From phenotypes to endotypes

Episode 3. Join Drs Nicola Hanania and Francesca Polverino as they discuss the heterogeneity of COPD, as well as both the historical and current phenotypes and endotypes that help characterize patients and inform clinical outcomes.

Role of type 2 inflammation in COPD

Episode 2. Join Drs Jean Bourbeau and Stephanie Christenson as they discuss COPD pathophysiology with a special focus on the role of type 2 inflammation in COPD, including the roles of the type 2 cytokines and type 2 inflammatory biomarkers.

Pulmonary perspectives: Understanding COPD patient burden

Episode 1. Join Professor Francesca Puggioni, MD and Professor Ian Pavord, MA, DM, FRCP, FERS, FMedSci as they explore the complex challenges of managing COPD, highlighting the burden faced by COPD patients.

Meet the experts

Nicola A. Hanania MD, MS, FCCP, FACP, FRCP, FERS

Nicola (Nick) A. Hanania, MD, MS, is professor of medicine in the Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and director of the Airways Clinical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He also serves on the Faculty Senate at Baylor College of Medicine. He is the Chief of Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Ben Taub Hospital. He completed his medical training at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan, followed by a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in pulmonary medicine at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. He subsequently completed a fellowship in critical care medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he later earned a master’s degree in clinical investigation. 

Dr Hanania has received multiple awards, including the ACCP’s Distinguished Scholar in Respiratory Health, Baylor College of Medicine Master Clinician Award, ACCP distinguished CHEST educator (DCE), ACCP Humanitarian Award, Career Investigator Award (K23) from the National Institutes of Health, Fulbright and Jaworski’s Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching and Evaluation, and the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He is editor-in-chief of Respiratory Medicine and is associate editor of the journals, Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine (Asthma Section), and Lung. He serves on the editorial board of Therapeutic Advances in Respiratory Disease, Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, COPD (J of COPD Foundation).

Dr Hanania’s research interests focus on the pharmacology and management of asthma and COPD. He has published more than 320 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, editorials, and reviews on these topics. His research has been funded by NIH, ALA and industry and focuses on clinical trials investigating novel treatments. He is principal investigator for the American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Center and COPD Gene study at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as principal investigator or co-investigator in several clinical trials in asthma and COPD. Dr Hanania has been invited and has lectured widely at local, regional, national, and international meetings.

Disclosures: Advisor/consultant for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Novartis, Roche (Genentech), Sanofi/Regeneron, Teva, and Verona Pharma. Received research grant support from American Lung Association, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Genentech, Gossamer Bio, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Novartis, and Sanofi.

Francesca Polverino MD, PhD

Francesca Polverino, MD, PhD, is a physician scientist and tenured Lester and Sue Smith associate professor of medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas where she leads the COPD translational research group. Her clinical and research interest is in chronic airway diseases, with a background in lung immunology and pathology. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic, genomic, and developmental factors which account for the individual susceptibility to develop chronic airflow limitation. After medical school, Francesca completed a fellowship in immunology and lung pathology, to then move to the Harvard Medical School, where she completed her PhD in pulmonary medicine and became a faculty member in 2015. She has been awarded several prestigious international recognitions, including the COPD Gold medal by the European Respiratory Society, the Parker B Francis Award from the American Thoracic Society, and the Medal of Honor for Scientific Merits from the Italian Prime Minister. She is section editor for the European Respiratory Journal and serves as standing member in several study sections including for the NIH, American Lung Association, and Department of Defense. Francesca has received several federal and foundation grants as Principal Investigator, including a Parker B. Francis Fellowship, an American Lung Association grant, an Alpha1antitrypsin foundation grant, an industry Pathway grant, and two R01s from the NHLBI.

Disclosures: Received several federal and foundation grants as Principal Investigator, including Alpha1antitrypsin foundation grant, American Lung Association grant, industry Pathway grant, Parker B. Francis Fellowship, and two R01s from the NHLBI.

Stephanie Christenson MD, MAS

Dr. Christenson earned her medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. At UCSF, she completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine and a master of advanced study degree in clinical research. She currently is a member of the American Thoracic Society. Dr. Stephanie Christenson cares for patients in the intensive care unit as well as patients with lung disease in the clinic.

Disclosures: Consultant for AstraZeneca, Glenmark, GSK, and Sanofi/Regeneron. Writer for UpToDate.

Jean Bourbeau MD, MSc, FRCPC

Dr Bourbeau is a clinician scientist, professor, and researcher at McGill University and a senior scientist at The Research Institute McGill University Health Centre. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (FCAHS) and has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Distinguished Scientist Award from McGill University, the Distinguished CHEST Educator from the American College of Chest Physicians, and CIHR-ICRH/CTS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Respiratory Sciences.

His research includes notable contributions like the "Living Well with COPD" self-management program and the Canadian Cohort Obstructive Lung Disease (CanCOLD) prospective study. Over the last few decades, he has secured substantial research funding and published over 400 papers, reviews, and chapters.

Internationally recognized for his expertise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), he actively participates in various scientific committees and has served as the president and remains on the board of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS). He is also a member of the scientific committee of GOLD.

Dr. Bourbeau has made significant contributions to national and international guidelines, including the GOLD Reports, CTS COPD Pharmacotherapy Guidelines, American College of Chest Physicians/CTS Guidelines on prevention of COPD exacerbations, and American Thoracic/European Respiratory Society Guidelines on Pulmonary Rehabilitation. lth Sciences, McGill University

Disclosures: Received research funding from AstraZeneca, Canadian Institute of Health Research, GSK, MUHC Foundation, Novartis, and RSR FRQS. Received honoraria from AstraZeneca, CHEST, Covis, CTS, GSK, Moderna, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi.

Francesca Puggioni, MD

Francesca Puggioni, MD, is an Adjunct Professor in Respiratory Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics at Humanitas University. She is also the clinical coordinator and Vice Director of the Personalized Medicine Asthma and Allergy Clinic of Humanitas in Milan. Dr. Puggioni trained in medicine and completed a resident program in respiratory diseases at the University of Pavia, Italy.

Dr. Puggioni has main research interests in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a particular focus on new biologic treatments, personalized medicine, asthma comorbidities, and translational research for the development of predictive biomarkers. She has acted as principal investigator and study coordinator for several clinical studies at the Humanitas Immuno Center, Milan. Dr. Puggioni has a range of clinical interests including allergic diseases, asthma, severe asthma and comorbidities, COPD, and lung function.

Dr. Puggioni is a member of the European Respiratory Society, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the Italian Respiratory Society, and the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology. She is also involved in the Severe Asthma Network in Italy as a member of the Education and Dissemination Committee.

Disclosures: ALK-Abelló, Allergy Therapeutics, Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi Farmaceutici, GSK, Guidotti-Malesci, HAL Allergy, Menarini, Mundipharma, Novartis, Sanofi/Regeneron, Sanofi-Aventis, Stallergenes Greer, Teva, and Valeas.

Ian D. Pavord; DM, FERS, FMedSci, FRCP

Ian D. Pavord, DM, FRCP, FERS, FMedSci, is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Consultant Physician at the Oxford University Hospitals. He was an inaugural Fellow of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in 2014 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2015. 

Prof. Pavord has a research interest in the clinical aspects of inflammatory airway diseases and has pioneered the use of non-invasive measures of airway inflammation in the assessment of these conditions. He has identified several clinically important phenotypes of inflammatory airway disease, discovered clinically important biomarkers, and played a lead role in the clinical development of three treatments for severe airway disease.  

Prof. Pavord is on the International Advisory Board for the European Respiratory Journal and is the author of more than 570 publications, making him the highest-cited researcher in asthma worldwide. He has previously been the editor of Thorax and serves on the editorial boards of Thorax and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He received the 2016 ERS Gold Medal for research, and gave the Cournand Lecture at the 2004 ERS meeting. He chaired the 2017 Lancet Commission on Asthma.

Disclosures: Received speaker’s honoraria for speaking at sponsored meetings from Aerocrine, Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GSK, Menarini, Novartis, Sanofi/Regeneron, and Teva. Payments for organizing educational events from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi/Regeneron, and Teva. Received honoraria for attending advisory panels with AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Circassia, Genentech, GSK, Knopp, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi/Regeneron, and Teva. Payments to support FDA approval meetings from GSK. Received sponsorship to attend international scientific meetings from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GSK, and Teva. Received a grant from Chiesi to support a phase 2 clinical trial in Oxford. He is co-patent holder of the rights to the Leicester Cough Questionnaire and has received payments for its use in clinical trials from Bayer, Insmed, and Merck. In 2014–5, he was an expert witness for a patent dispute involving AstraZeneca and Teva.