Cassano Research Group
The overarching goal of our work is to define the role of nutrition and its interaction with the genome in the etiology of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Past studies supported a role of nutrients with antioxidant properties in the etiology of lung disease, leading to a randomized trial of nutritional supplementation. Another past study investigated whether nutrient—lung outcome associations are mediated by changes in gene expression in lung tissues. The role of vitamin D in lung health is a new area of study, and mechanistic as well as epidemiologic studies are in progress, including investigations of sequence variants in vitamin D metabolism and responsive genes in relation to lung outcomes. Understanding the role of genetic variation, and the interaction between genes and nutrients is a common theme in our projects, with the overall objective to identify prevention targets.
Current projects include:
- Randomized controlled trial of selenium and/or vitamin E effects on rate of decline in lung function and risk of COPD and asthma
- Cohort study of variation in 50 oxidant response/antioxidant enzyme genes in relation to rate of decline in lung function
- GWAS of rate of decline in lung function
- Prospective cohort study to investigate the relation of genetic variants in vitamin D metabolic and responsive genes in relation to lung outcomes
- A pilot cohort study for EnHANCE, a research project conducted by the Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, and directed by Dr. Pat Cassano(www.enhance.nutrition.cornell.edu)
Please visit the research page for more detailed information. Current funding sources: NIH R01 HL071022, R03 HL095414 and RC1 AG03583.
Dr. Patricia A. Cassano is an Associate Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and a member of the Graduate Fields of Nutrition and Epidemiology. She currently serves as Director of Graduate Studies for the Field of Epidemiology.