PECASE: Engineering the Human Airway to Study the Transport and Kinetics of S-nitrosothiols

[875033] george这份职业计划书描述了一个研究计划，致力于设计人工肺组织，用于研究一类叫做s -亚硝基硫醇（RS-NO）的分子，以及一个教学计划，致力于将基于问题的学习纳入工程课程。RS-NO化合物可以被吸入，并有望成为肺组织一氧化氮的潜在来源。一氧化氮能使肺平滑肌松弛，这一特性对哮喘、成人呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）等几种重要疾病都是有益的。该项目的目标是：1)设计和表征可用于研究生物分子物理和化学性质的肺组织模型；2)表征肺组织中RS-NO的化学性质，包括活动性疾病的影响；3)设计治疗策略，优化吸入RS-NO后平滑肌部位一氧化氮的浓度。研究计划的完成不仅为充分研究RS-NO治疗支气管哮喘等炎症性疾病的治疗潜力提供了必要的关键信息，而且还将为未来广泛的气道研究提供重要的模型系统。教学计划的主要目标是将基于问题的学习（PBL）技术纳入本科和研究生工程课程。PBL是一种方法，它不仅允许获得与该学科相关的基本事实和规律，而且强烈鼓励实践工程师发展不那么有形，但可能更重要的技能，包括推理、判断和创新。次要目标包括将研究计划的研究成果纳入课程和同行评估。教学计划的完成将引入一种教授工程概念的新方法，从长远来看，这将培养出更多富有创造力和效率的工程师。

9875033GeorgeThis CAREER proposal describes a Research Plan devoted to the design of artificial lung tissue that will be used to study a class of molecules called S-nitrosothiols (RS-NO), and a Teaching Plan devoted to the incorporation of Problem-Based Learning into the engineering curriculum. RS-NO compounds can be inhaled, and hold promise as a potential source of nitric oxide to lung tissue. Nitric oxide can relax smooth muscle in the lung, and this feature is beneficial to several important diseases such as asthma and Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). The objectives of the project are to: 1) engineer and characterize a model of lung tissue which can be used to study physical and chemical properties of biological molecules, 2) characterize the chemistry RS-NO in lung tissue including the effect of active disease, and 3) design therapeutic strategies which optimize the concentration of nitric oxide at smooth muscle sites following the inhalation of RS-NO. Completion of the Research Plan will not only provide the pivotal information necessary to fully investigate the therapeutic potential of RS-NO in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as bronchial asthma, but will also provide an important model system that can be used in a wide range of future airway studies. The main objective of the Teaching Plan is the incorporation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) techniques into the undergraduate and graduate engineering curriculum. PBL is a method that allows not only the acquisition of basic facts and laws associated with the discipline, but strongly encourages the development of less tangible, but perhaps more important, skills of the practicing engineer which include reasoning, judgment, and innovation. Secondary objectives include the incorporation of research results from the Research Plan into the curriculum and peer-assessment. Completion of the Teaching Plan will introduce a new method of teaching engineering concepts that in the long term will produce more creative and effective engineers.