The Respiratory Diseases Unit is involved in research related to the cellular and metabolic mechanisms of lung toxicity, and the respiratory system’s response to environmental contaminants such as air pollutants and tobacco smoke.

Characteristics of the pulmonary airway tree have been defined for the infant and adult rhesus monkey to establish its usefulness as a model of respiratory disease response in humans. A large variety of factors characteristic of the rhesus respiratory system, document that these animals are likely to be one of the most appropriate models for studying cellular and metabolic as well as physiologic and molecular mechanisms of human lung injury and repair.

The studies in the Respiratory Diseases Unit are directed towards:

• The effects of air pollutants including environmental tobacco smoke, ozone and house dust mite allergen on prenatal, neonatal and postnatal lung development
• The development of a model for human allergic asthma using the adult rhesus monkey and house dust mite allergen, a naturally occurring allergy for monkeys.
• Exploring the relationship between childhood asthma, the development of mucosal immunity in the respiratory system, and exposure to the house dust mite allergen
• The establishment of neural networks within the respiratory system and their role in the regulation of overall pulmonary function and airways reactivity
• The development of therapeutic strategies for the treatment of chronic lung disease

Respiratory Diseases Unit Resources Program

The goal of the Respiratory Diseases Unit Resources program is to make nonhuman primate biological specimens and data collected through our NIH-funded research accessible to the scientific community. Since 1999, staff and affiliate scientists within the Respiratory Diseases Unit have used the nonhuman primate as an animal model to address questions related to the development of allergic airways disease and exacerbation by air pollutant exposures.

Access to detailed study information may be obtained by completion and approval of the RDU Access Request Form. Resources may be subsequently obtained by completion and approval of the CNPRC RDU Resource Request Form. Priority for distribution of resources is given to federally-funded investigators.