Message from the Director

The Vermont Lung Center has a proud tradition of research in lung health since the early 1970’s.  The Center is dedicated to research and training that will improve health related to respiratory disease and critical care illnesses.

This is particularly important at the current time.  Death and disability related to respiratory disease are climbing.  COPD is now the fourth leading cause of death world-wide, and new diseases are rapidly emerging—the latest example being acute lung injury related to E-Cigarettes and vaping.  There is a critical need for research if we are to find better treatments to prevent the devastating toll these diseases take.

Investigators within the VLC perform research spanning basic, translational and clinical science.  Members of the center come from across the University of Vermont campus, from the Departments of Medicine, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Pathology, and the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.  

The center is one of only 15 centers nationwide that make up the American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Centers.  Originally founded in 1999, this network has performed ground-breaking research in asthma and COPD that has been published in some of the leading medical journals, trials which have changed the way clinicians treat patients with chronic obstructive lung disease and asthma.

The center is also part of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutic Development Network which has led the development of new drugs to treat Cystic Fibrosis, which has transformed the lives of patients suffering with this disease.

Improving health related to respiratory disease is dependent on people volunteering their time and participating in research studies—you can help.
 

Matt Poynter, PhD

Director, Vermont Lung Center
Professor of Medicine