The Emory Alcohol and Lung Biology Center at the Emory University School of Medicine is supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ( NIAAA), as part of their Alcohol Research Center (ARC) Program.

The mission of the center is to investigate the mechanisms by which chronic alcohol abuse renders patients susceptible to acute lung injury, and to develop novel treatments that can reduce the morbidity and mortality of this devastating syndrome.

The history of alcohol research at Emory University: Although the toxic effects of alcohol on the liver and brain have been recognized for centuries, it is only within the past decade that we have recognized that chronic alcohol abuse predisposes patients to acute lung injury. Two large epidemiological studies indicate that patients with chronic alcohol abuse are 2-4 times more likely to develop a severe form of lung injury known as the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) following sepsis or trauma. The Emory Alcohol and Lung Biology Center “officially” had its beginning on January 1, 2003 with the awarding of a five-year Center Grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). However, it had been evolving “unofficially” since 1996 when several Emory investigators with common research interests in lung biology began to unravel the links between chronic ethanol ingestion and abnormal lung structure and function.

The Center has grown rapidly and includes faculty, trainees, and technical staff from multiple departments within the Emory University School of Medicine as well as collaborators throughout North America. In parallel, the Center includes a T32 Institutional Training Program in Alcohol and Lung Biology Research that is also supported by the NIAAA. To learn more about the specific research within the Center please click on the Research link. To learn more about training opportunities within the Center please click on the Training Program link.