UF faculty member receives NIH grant to study lung diseases

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a University of Florida College of Medicine professor $1 million over four years to study lung diseases.

Edward R. Block, M.D., received the four-year grant to study pulmonary endothelial cell function in lung diseases. Block is a distinguished professor of medicine and chief of research for the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. He also is a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor, an honor awarded annually to a limited number of professors across campus.

Block will seek to understand the mechanism by which pulmonary diseases impair the activity of a class of lung enzymes responsible for the production of nitric oxide, a chemical that maintains blood flow through open vessels in the lungs. Such an understanding could open the door to new treatment options for patients with a variety of lung diseases, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis, in which pulmonary vascular function is impaired.

He has made several breakthroughs in pulmonary research since he joined the UF faculty in 1975, including contributing to the discovery that the human lung is capable of removing harmful substances from the blood, thus acting as a biologic filter, and participating in the development of a promising treatment for maintaining normal pulmonary blood pressure levels in people with lung disease.

Block also is the recipient of a prestigious NIH Method to Extend Research in Time or M.E.R.I.T. Award. Less than 1 percent of all of NIH grantees receive the award, which is given to those who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity during their previous research endeavors.