Benos Lab receives NIH funding to develop interpretable graphical models

The Benos Lab received an R01 grant from NHLBI-NIH to develop interpretable probabilistic graphical models for multi-modal datasets. The methods will be used to identify factors causally linked to the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

COPD is the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide [1]. In 2019, WHO estimated that 3.23 million people died for COPD [2]. More than 140,000 Americans die of COPD every year [3]. It is believed that COPD is a syndrome, consisting of multiple disease subtypes. This new R01, which is a collaboration with Craig Hersh (Harvard) and Frank Sciurba (Pitt) aims to identify such subtypes, which can help in the future to develop better disease management and treatment strategies.

References:

[1] WHO Fact Sheets (link)

[2] WHO Global Health Estimates (link)

[3] CDC: COPD Key Facts (link)