HATS off to Combat Asthma, University of Nottingham Study

Two University of Nottingham studies exploring the causes and treatment of asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) could lead to the development of drugs to battle these debilitating conditions. The Division of Respiratory Medicine at the University has been awarded a total of £1.24m in grants to study respiratory disease. The Wellcome Trust has awarded Prof Alan Knox and Dr Linhua Pang £700,000 to research transcriptional control of inflammatory gene expression in asthma — allowing the team to examine the part inflammatory mediators play in the way asthma sufferers react to allergens. A second grant of £540,000 from MRC to Prof Knox and his colleagues Prof Peter Fischer and Prof David Heery will explore histone acetyl transferase (HAT) inhibitors in asthma and COPD.