
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis remains one of the most challenging respiratory diseases to treat, however new strategies that directly interrupt the cellular drivers of fibrosis are urgently needed.

As global temperatures rise, wildfires are increasingly recognized as major public health crises. Exposure to wildfire smoke is known to worsen respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Nearly half of the U.S. population remains at risk from the silent threat of secondhand smoke. Chronic exposure to triggers a cascade of inflammation and vascular damage that can lead to irreversible conditions like COPD and emphysema.

A recent pilot study by Smith et al (2025) has broken new ground by combining two
powerhouse technologies—the flexiVent and X-ray Velocimetry (XV)—to map the
functional decline of the lungs during tumor progression.