Lung Protection:

Scott Drouin, Ph.D., assistant professor, IMM and GSBS

Day after day of high ozone alerts during the summer may leave Houstonians gasping for air. Drouin’s research may help in understanding how the lungs protect themselves and what goes wrong when those defenses fail.

Scott Drouin, Ph.D.

“My laboratory studies asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder with a primary interest in the innate immune mechanisms that contribute to these inflammatory lung diseases,” he said.

“The lung is constantly exposed to an external environment containing a variety of airborne pathogens and pollutants, which could potentially cause damage to this vital organ,” Drouin said. “Cells of the lung must be capable of communicating with the immune system in order to defend against external stresses and, at the same time, tightly control and temper these defensive responses in order to prevent damage to the delicate tissues responsible for the transport and exchange of oxygen. This balance is critical.

“When these defense mechanisms don’t function properly, a range of disease pathologies can result,” he said. “Mild pathologies typically result in the reversible airway obstruction that most people experience with asthma or respiratory infections. Severe pathologies, such as emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, can result in irreversible obstruction and damage to the lung tissue with a gradual loss of a person’s ability to breathe.”

Drouin and his research team use rodent models of pulmonary disease and techniques for studying lung cells outside the body. The researchers focus primarily on understanding the mechanisms that defend against the external environment in the hope of gaining insight into the defects that lead to inflammatory lung disease.

Always interested in science, Drouin turned to immunology during his doctoral studies in microbiology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. His postdoctoral training in the Research Center for Immunology and Autoimmmune Diseases at the IMM focused his interest into a research career devoted to understanding the inflammatory mechanisms that lead to pulmonary disease.