PITTSBURGH, Jan. 18 -- The University of Pittsburgh has been awarded an estimated $13 million research grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel approaches that seek to increase our understanding of and improve outcomes for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a degenerative breathing disorder that is the fourth leading cause of death and the second leading cause of disability annually in the United States. The five-year grant establishes the University of Pittsburgh as a Specialized Center of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR) in COPD. Such a center encourages basic science research findings to be directed more rapidly toward clinical problems.>>> Discuss This Story