The Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) Study was designed to identify genetic factors in COPD, to define and characterize disease-related phenotypes, and to assess the association of disease-related phenotypes with the identified susceptibility genes. This multi-center study is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). A key feature of the project is to enroll a large cohort (10,000) of subjects, spanning the breadth of disease severity including smokers and non-smokers without COPD as controls. Two groups are being studied: Non-Hispanic Whites and Non-Hispanic African Americans.
