Innovative treatment for extrapulmonary benefits in COPD: effects and mechanisms of supramaximal High-Intensity Training

Given the substantial negative impact of extrapulmonary manifestations on vital clinical outcomes, including mortality, the need for new effective treatment modalities also beyond the lungs has been highlighted as an urgent challenge in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), one of the most common and deadliest diseases of the 21st century.

The aim of COPD-HIT is to pave the way for new understanding of the development and treatment of extrapulmonary manifestations in COPD with a focus on brain health, muscle quality, and cardiac function.

To do this I will focus on the following research objectives (RO): RO1) Determine the effect of supramaximal High-Intensity Training (HIT) on the brain, muscle, and heart RO2) Determine how exercise training and inflammation impacts the trajectories of neurodegeneration RO3) Develop a novel in-vitro model to determine signaling pathways following various loading intensitiesTo reach these objectives, I aim to conduct high-quality multicenter randomized controlled and experimental trials.

Further, I will lead an international research alliance with access to state-of-the-art research infrastructures and enable a unique interdisciplinary approach to fulfill my goals.

This includes using advanced measurement techniques for muscle, brain, and cardiorespiratory evaluations, muscle biopsy analyses, in-vivo & in-vitro strategies, and combining quantitative and qualitative methods.

Taken together, with COPD-HIT, I am in a strong position to perform an international novel project that will determine how to enable extrapulmonary benefits in COPD in a hitherto unprecedented way.