Timothy
Murphy and Sanjay
Sethi’s landmark microbial genomic studies overturned
conventional wisdom about the cause and progression of chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Prior to their breakthrough research, doctors thought that the
life threatening flare-ups of COPD were caused by bacteria in a
person's lungs reaching a critical mass, causing increased
shortness of breath and production of thick, airway-clogging
mucous.
The two UB scientists proved the bacterial-load theory wrong
when they made the key discovery that these flare-ups are not the
result of an increase in the number of bacteria, but instead are
due to new strains of bacteria that COPD patients continuously
acquire.
In 2002, they published their findings in the New England
Journal of Medicine in what is now considered a landmark
paper in the field.
In subsequent studies, Murphy and Sethi showed that when COPD
patients acquire new strains of bacteria they have an inflammatory
response much greater than with a previous strain.
They also made a related, critical discovery that showed how
immunity to these bacteria is strain specific, a finding that
explained why patients remain susceptible to the exacerbations.
This discovery is crucial because it enables researchers to
identify genes or key molecules in the strains that can be targeted
by vaccines or other therapies.
Murphy and Sethi, both professors of medicine
and microbiology and
immunology, have themselves developed promising vaccine
candidates for pathogens involved in the disease.
Today they continue to lead the longest-running clinical
investigation of COPD in the United States.
Researchers worldwide seek out their biorepository of clinical
samples, looking for clues that can be teased out of the bacterial
strains, serum and sputum they have gathered and stored for more
than two decades.
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