Award
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 5R01HL178032-02
EpiGNOME: Epigenetic Graphical Networks Of Methylation Effectors for COPD Progression
Recipient
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Award Amount
$714,102.00
Ceiling
$714,102.00
Awarded
February 20, 2026
Identifier
5R01HL178032-02
The award supports research on DNA methylation's role in COPD progression, developing novel computational methods to identify molecular mechanisms and stable COPD subtypes using large-scale multi-omic data.
Description
This project focuses on the investigation of the role of DNA methylation in COPD progression. It will develop novel directed (causal) graph methods for high-dimensional collinear data, providing a foundation for advancing integrative computational systems biology. The project aims to identify potential cause-effect relationships among DNA methylation, genetic, and clinical effectors related to COPD subtypes and progression. It hypothesizes that DNA methylation will reveal molecular mechanisms and drive the development of stable COPD disease subtypes, not previously revealed with genetic and gene expression analyses. The project will utilize genome-wide DNA methylation analysis from leukocytes (COPDGene, LTRC cohorts), lung tissue biopsies (LTRC, LTCOPD cohorts), and longitudinal DNA methylation data from over 11,000 samples. It will identify methylation marks directly linked to COPD outcomes and compare lung to blood epigenetic pathways to uncover new molecular mechanisms and potential targets for disease prevention and management.