Research projects awarded in 2009

A review of research grants awarded during the last year and a report on some completed work

Changing Lives - download PDF

All BLF research grants are selected by our Scientific Committee, which consists of expert respiratory researchers and non-scientific members who have a lung condition. This allows us to fund work that is scientifically robust and is also important to changing the lives of people who have a lung disease.

The committee works to a ‘research strategy’, which is reviewed each year. This ensures that we get the most value from our investment into research. Our strategy includes building capacity for lung research in the UK by supporting junior researchers and targeting several important disease areas that either affect huge numbers and/or are poorly understood. Our recently awarded grants reflect this strategy including:

• a capacity-building Research Fellowship award investigating asthma
• £500,000 committed to researching tuberculosis, which has seen a resurgence in recent years
• the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund award tackling a deadly cancer caused by asbestos exposure
• several awards focusing on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a poorly understood condition which has no cure.

By working within this strategy, we hope that the science we fund will tackle issues that are of the greatest importance to people living with lung disease and will provide a healthy future for respiratory research in the UK.

Changing Lives - download PDF