USC Scientists Receive a Prestigious NIH Grant to Tackle Fatal Lung Disease With Bold New Therapy

 

A team of USC physician-scientists led by Dr. Denis Evseenko, a Founding Director of Parris Longevity Accelerator and Dr. Toby Maher, a Professor of Clinical Medicine, has been awarded a prestigious federal grant from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop a groundbreaking treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) — a fatal lung disease that affects nearly 3 million people worldwide.

 

IPF is the most common form of pulmonary fibrosis, causing scarring and stiffness in the lungs that make breathing increasingly difficult. Most patients live only 3 to 5 years after diagnosis. Current drugs, pirfenidone and nintedanib, can slow disease progression but come with harsh side effects and do not reverse damage. The need for better options is urgent. The USC team will develop and test two new small-molecule drug candidates with the potential to change that. Preliminary animal studies already show promise that these therapies can not only halt IPF progression but potentially reverse lung damage - a first for the disease.

 

“This project could change the treatment landscape for IPF,” said Dr. Evseenko. “Our goal is to give patients more time, better quality of life, and real hope for the future.”