The mission of the Institute for Airway Sciences (IAS) is to promote a collaboration between physicians, scientists and researchers who are dedicated to innovative research and transitioning science into clinical practice. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is an ideal institution for the IAS. With medical experts at the Mount Sinai Health System and clinical researchers from various disciplines all under the same roof, every project is developed and studied under a multitude of unique scientific lenses.
Researchers at IAS will collaborate with departments and institutes at Mount Sinai including:
- Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology
- The Black Family Stem Cell Institute
- The Recanati Miller Transplant Institute
The IAS will organize seminars and research-in-progress talks focused on airway science and related diseases that affect the airway. To build a pipeline of innovative physician-scientists, collaborative pilot grants and scholarships are offered to medical students and residents in training.
Each system and structure of the airway -- from the sinus cavities to the lungs -- is linked and has a significant impact on each other. As a result, there is a pressing need for an initiative to better understand how the airway and epithelium respond to disease, injury, and environmental exposures. Together, our team of specialists link to new Team page are working to address fundamentally important questions that further the field and make a difference in the lives of patients. Below are highlighted areas of scientific discovery at the IAS.
Learn more about the decades of research that led to the first donor tracheal transplant.
Tracheal Transplantation Tolerance/Immunology
The IAS is laying the foundation for the future of lung and tracheal transplantation. In January 2021, the first-ever successful human tracheal transplant was performed at Mount Sinai—a feat previously thought to be impossible due to the complexity of the organ. Under the auspices of the collaborative, transplant scientists will further investigate techniques for tracheal transplant and work closely with stem cell researchers to explore composite transplants that combine the patient’s own stem cells with a portion of donor tissue.
Disease Transmission
The COVID-19 pandemic brought the importance of establishing a multidisciplinary airway collaborative to the forefront. Most disease outbreaks, including COVID-19, swine flu, and avian influenza are transmitted through the nose or mouth, and then impact the lungs. Research projects will focus on better understanding transmission and identifying ways to prevent viruses like COVID-19 from entering the respiratory tract.
Stem Cell Airway Regeneration
Airway damage is becoming more common due to increases in viruses, cancer, bacterial infections, and trauma. The pulmonary team at the IAS is dedicated to understanding how the lung epithelium is impacted by injury and the ways in which the organ and body work together to respond to injury often through the repair and building of tissue.
Lung Transplantation
Lung transplantation is an effective intervention for patients with end-stage lung disease who have exhausted all other medical options. However, the five-year survival rate for patients who have lung transplants is significantly lower than other organs. Researchers are investigating what causes the high incidence of chronic lung rejection post-transplant.
Directors
Eric Genden, MD, MBA, Isidore Friesner Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,
Charles Powell, MD, MBA, Professor of Medicine and System Division Chief for Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Marek Mlodzik, PhD, Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor and Chair of Cell, Developmental & Regenerative Biology