Research Groups and Areas

The Queen’s Respiratory Group (QRG) is a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental group with a primary goal to conduct research, teaching, and graduate and clinical training in lung biology and respiratory medicine. The majority of our members are from the Department of Physiology and the Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, within the Department of Medicine. Other members of the group are from the Departments of Anesthesiology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Physical and Health Education.

Research interests of the group span several areas including control of breathing, asthma, cardiac and respiratory muscle function and acid-base balance. Primary categories include the following topics, although other areas are also available:

• Control of breathing focuses on sensation of dyspnea; neural control of respiratory muscles; hormonal and acid-base impact on chemical control of breathing; lung afferents.
• Respiratory and cardiac muscle function focuses on cardiac function and the effects of ischemia on cardiac muscle function, particularly as it relates to the impact of regulatory protein degradation on function; respiratory muscle fatigue and molecular mechanisms leading to fatigue.
• Airway Biology & Mechanics focuses on development of airway smooth muscle innervation; role of G protein receptor kinases on in vivo bronchial responsiveness; novel methods of imaging airway narrowing during smooth muscle activation; the mechanics of airway narrowing.