Clarus Leung, MD
Understanding asthma-COPD overlap
Clarus is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia. She received a $33,000 Research Fellowship in 2023 to fund research that will improve our understanding of the genetic mechanisms of asthma-COPD. This understanding will, in turn, support patients receiving the most effective medication to treat their condition.
"Endo-phenotyping of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap by airway inflammation"
Dr. Leung believes that the study results will have important clinical implications for patients with COPD, particularly those with high levels of eosinophils in their airways, which is approximately 30-40% of this population. Given that the incidence of COPD in Canada is around 2 million, approximately 700,000 individuals fall in this subgroup and are considered to have a type of asthma-COPD overlap. Dr. Leung's research provided gene expression evidence that this group of patients have a specific type of airway inflammation, known as type 2 inflammation, and that inhaled corticosteroids (a common class of medication) are very effective in reducing this specific type of inflammation. Dr. Leung says the findings will also pave the way for future work in her own research group at the University of British Columbia and other investigators nationally and internationally.
Dear Donors:
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) account for over 90% of chronic respiratory diseases and represent the top causes of medical hospitalizations in Canada and the third leading cause of death worldwide. More than 5 million Canadians are living with asthma or COPD, and one-third of these individuals have features of both (known as asthma-COPD overlap). Individuals with asthma-COPD overlap experience a more severe form of lung disease, but the disease is under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and improperly treated, because of our limited understanding of its biology.
Your donations have helped to support my research as a post-doctoral research fellow and a young investigator. My career goal is to become a clinician-scientist with expertise in complex airway diseases. Through my research work, we now understand that asthma and COPD share some common disease mechanisms of airway inflammation. We have identified an airway biomarker that can help identify and diagnose individuals with this type of airway inflammation. Importantly, the shared disease biology between asthma and COPD means that certain inhaled medications and more advanced therapies (known as biologics) are likely to benefit these patients and make significant improvements to their symptoms and quality of life.
I appreciate your donations to support our research work which will help to make a positive contribution to clinical care.
- Clarus