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Avrum Spira

Professor of Medicine, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, and Bioinformatics Chief, Division of Computational Biomedicine, Boston University School of Medicine Director, Translational Bioinformatics Program, Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Boston University

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  • Boston University

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    Biography

    Boston University

    Dr. Spira is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine, and Pathology and Bioinformatics and is Chief of the Division of Computational Biomedicine in the Department of Medicine at BUSM. . He attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Boston Medical Center. He directs the Bioinformatics Program in the Pulmonary Center and directs the Translational Bioinformatics Program in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Boston University.

    Dr. Spira’s laboratory research interests focus on applying genomic and bioinformatics tools to the translational study of lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD), with the ultimate objective of developing novel diagnostics and therapeutics that can directly impact clinical care. He is funded as a Principal Investigator through three institutes at the NIH including the NCI, NHLBI, and NIEHS as well as the Department of Defense. His research program centers around the concept that inhaled toxins create a “field of injury” in all exposed airway epithelial cells, and that by measuring gene expression in a relatively pure population of these cells, one can develop a gene-expression profile that reflects the physiological response to and damage from the toxin. The importance of the “field-of-injury” concept is that it allows for the detection of lung disease in tissues that are more readily assayed than the diseased lung itself.

    His lab has characterized the impact of cigarette smoking on intra-thoracic (lobar bronchi) and extra-thoracic (mouth and nasal) airway epithelial cell gene expression, and he has leveraged this approach to develop a bronchial airway gene-expression biomarker for the early detection of lung cancer that is currently being validated in a multicenter clinical trial. His lab has also extended this “field of injury” paradigm to the premalignant and lung cancer screening settings, potentially allowing personalized genomic approaches to lung cancer chemoprophylaxis and therapy. This disease-specific airway “field of injury” concept is also being applied to Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD), to better understand the molecular diversity of COPD, both for developing subtype-targeted therapies and for developing biomarkers that would allow identification of biologically distinct forms of COPD. Most significantly, his lab has identified airway gene-expression biomarkers that can be used to monitor disease activity and response to therapy in COPD, and they have connected gene expression signatures of disease in clinical samples to in vitro small molecule perturbations to move from bedside to bench and identify new uses for existing drugs as potential COPD therapeutics. Finally, we are exploring gene-expression profiles in nasal and buccal epithelium as biomarkers of the physiological response to inhaled toxins and their potential role as lung disease biomarkers in large-scale population studies.

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    Cases

    Vaping Is Cool, Smoking Is Not: Could Rise Of Teen E-Cig Use Have An Upside?

    July 23, 2016

    WBUR “CommonHealth” Avrum Spira, School of Medicine Michael Siegel, School of Public Health Smoking has never been cool in my lifetime. But e-cigs are different, sort of… Expert quote (Siegel): “People are going to do behaviors that are not necessarily good for them. Let’s at least minimize the risk. That is going to save so many […]

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    J&J expands project that aims to predict, prevent diseases

    March 23, 2016

    Associated Press Avrum Spira, School of Medicine Johnson & Johnson has ramped up its ambitious project to learn how to predict who will develop particular diseases and find therapies to prevent or stop the disease early, when it’s most treatable… View full article quoting expert Avrum Spira

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    There’s a real sense of optimism around new ways of tackling lung cancer

    March 1, 2016

    Cancer Research UK Avrum Spira, School of Medicine “I lost both parents to lung cancer. The doctors did what they could, but treatments back then were not what they are today. Lung cancer is a formidable opponent. Young researchers should take this opportunity to learn from the best – families like us are willing them […]

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    Lung cancer affecting more nonsmokers

    January 14, 2016

    Chicago Tribune Avrum Spira, School of Medicine As an exercise buff who ate a nutritious diet and shunned cigarettes, Brittany Smith didn’t expect to get lung cancer… Expert quote: “It takes cells from the upper airway that can sense almost like a canary in the coal mine and tell what’s happening deep in the lungs.” […]

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    13% of Americans Have Tried E-Cigarettes

    October 28, 2015

    Time Avrum Spira, School of Medicine Close to 13% of American adults have tried an e-cigarette, according to new federal data published Wednesday by the the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics… Expert quote: “One of the main findings is that a majority of e-cigarette use is among […]

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    Vestal: Spokane County considering ban on indoor vaping

    October 27, 2015

    The Spokesman-Review Avrum Spira, School of Medicine Every day, it seems, there are more of them: Vapers, huddled in doorways, strolling the sidewalks and sometimes indoors, sipping their e-cigs and exhaling blooms of odorless smoke… Expert quote: “In theory – and how they’re marketed – e-cigarettes are a safer product because they don’t have tobacco, which […]

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    Pot-vaping high schoolers spark doctors’ fears

    September 14, 2015

    Boston Herald Avrum Spira, School of Medicine The use of e-cigarettes as a stealthy way to smoke pot is an exploding trend among teens, with unknown but potentially dire consequences, researchers say… Expert quote: “The idea that kids are doing this is very concerning. The concept, the paradigm, is scary. If they can vaporize marijuana, […]

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    Vaping is all the rage – even eclipsing cigarettes in some places – but is it addictive?

    August 4, 2015

    Redeye Avrum Spira, School of Medicine As vaping gets more and more popular, though, the debate about its health risks gets louder and louder… Expert quote: “We have evidence from cells in culture that e-cigarettes could have effects that are similar to tobacco smoking.” View full article

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    Less invasive test for lung cancer expected in 2016

    May 27, 2015

    Futurity News Avrum Spira, School of Medicine Lung cancer is responsible for the most cancer deaths in the United States… Expert quote: “It’s a growing problem in our clinical pulmonary practices: smokers, either current or former, have something abnormal found on a CT scan of the chest, and we’re worried it might be lung cancer.” […]

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    New Genomic Test May Change Clinical Practice in Lung Cancer

    May 20, 2015

    Medscape News Avrum Spira, School of Medicine A new genomic test may be able to improve the diagnostic performance of bronchoscopy and help avoid the need for more invasive procedures in patients with suspected lung cancer… Expert quote: “This test can change clinical practice in pulmonary medicine. It allows physicians to confidently identify patients who […]

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