The Future Treatment of CRS
“I predict that in the future, genetic and molecular diagnostics will lead to more categories as we unravel the complexity of the disease syndrome of CRS and its large subfamily, eosinophilic CRS.”
- Dr. BJ Ferguson, M.D.
Projects
The NOSE Initiative
NOSE: Neuromapping Olfactory Stimulation via Encephalography
The NOSE initiative seeks to further understand the human sense of smell by discerning how the brain and nose communicate with one another.
To achieve this goal, we propose the use of high-resolution bioelectrical (EEG) and biomagnetic (MEG) neurological imaging techniques in combination with precision-controlled odor delivery to capture images of both a normal and malfunctioning sense of smell. Our intent is to visualize the underlying physiological mechanisms that permit us to smell.
Communication between our brains, noses, and the world around us can become interrupted due to inflammatory diseases like chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS), infectious diseases like COVID-19, and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Neuroimaging allows us to capture unique signatures of olfactory dysfunction ascribable to these various causes; allowing us to improve our ability to diagnose and treat smell loss.
Imagine the ability to detect Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s early using simple images of smell? Or, using an objective measure of smell loss to identify which treatments are most effective in restoring smell? Our pursuit is to establish the first approved method to objectively measure olfactory dysfunction.
Endotyping Chronic Rhinosinusitis
Personalized Care for a Treatment-Resistant Chronic Disorder that Significantly Impairs Quality of Life
Scientific investigation of the immune system, our genetics, and our biological processes is changing the face of medicine. For nearly a century, inflammatory disorders such as asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis have been managed with corticosteroids or through sinus surgery. For years clinicians have managed chronic symptoms of inflammation, but in the advent of investigation into the underlying mechanisms in the body that cause inflammation, novel treatments that correct these sources of inflammation are being pioneered. Through clinical research, new treatments will emerge for conditions that were formerly though of as “incurable.”
Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) affects nearly 12% of our population, is a chronic inflammatory condition that is unresponsive to conventional treatment in a large portion of patients, and currently, there is no cure.
In the previous five years, Phase 3 testing of biologic drugs, drugs developed from human materials, and the approval of the biologic drug, dupilumab, is changing the way treatment for CRS is conceptualized. These new drugs target the messenger proteins and receptors that direct our immune systems, and it is theorized that CRS is driven by an overactive or dysfunctional immune system. The primary mission of this study is to continue investigation of the root mechanisms that cause CRS, and to endotype, classify groups of CRS patients based on their immune system
