Newsletter

Dear COPDGene Study Participant:
 
We are writing to give you an update on the COPDGene project. From our beginning in March 2008, over 4500 subjects have participated in this project. This exceeds our initial recruitment goals and this early success led to 10 presentations at the May 2009 meeting of the American Thoracic Society. As you know, our primary goal is to find the genes that cause this disease and the genes that help prevent it. Our hope is that finding the critical genes related to COPD will lead to finding effective new therapies and new ways to prevent this disease.When you joined the study, you provided us a clinical history, underwent pulmonary testing, exercise testing and a chest CT scan, and provided blood for genetic testing. All of this data is currently undergoing rigorous analysis.An important part of the COPDGene study is to follow each participant over time to determine how this disease develops and how it progresses. This will help us find better ways to treat the disease and block that progression. Later this summer we will be contacting you regarding continued participation in the COPDGene project and hope that you will continue your involvement in this program.Important news about recent developments in the COPDGene project includes:

  • Our first phase genetic analysis has been launched and we expect to have our first information about the genes related to COPD by the end of this calendar year.
  • The National Institutes of Health has agreed to consider funding a new proposal that would expand COPDGene to include a study of heart disease associated with smoking and/or COPD.
  • The pharmaceutical companies Novartis, AstraZeneca and Sepracor have become partners in the research and provide support to expand the COPDGene study. These companies will help translate our genetic findings into new therapies.

To keep you informed of our progress and the critical findings as they occur, we have created a website (www.copdgene.org). This website provides information about COPD as well as about the COPDGene study. We are enclosing a magnet with our website address and a general program phone number that will connect you with our San Diego Clinical Center where you can speak to the investigators and/or clinical coordinators who introduced you to the study. Please feel free to visit our website whenever you wish for updates.To more easily give you updates about COPDGene and to create a fast, convenient way for you to provide future information regarding your health, we would like to communicate with you by e-mail if at all possible. Our website has a feature for study participants to provide us with their e-mail address. If you use e-mail, we ask that you go to our website and provide your e-mail address. This information will be kept strictly confidential and used only for approved COPDGene communications.
Thank you again for your participation in the COPDGene study.
 
 
James D. Crapo, M.D.                                     Edwin K. Silverman, M.D., Ph. D.
National Jewish Health                                    Brigham and Women's Hospital
 

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