Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has received a federal award of $12 million to study two deadly lung diseases, the hospital announced Sept. 10.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the grant to researchers at the Beverly Grove hospital seeking to cure idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which scars lung tissue, obstructs breathing and typically kills patients within five years.

The grant will also fund research into treatments for chronic lung allograft dysfunction, which include complications that cause lung transplants to fail. Both conditions are poorly understood.

“Doctors can treat some symptoms and even slow the disease process in certain cases, but lack of knowledge keeps us from developing cures,” said Dr. Paul Noble, director of the Women’s Guild Lung Institute, and chair of the Cedars-Sinai Department of Medicine. “That is why research is so critical.”

The grant builds on a dozen years of pioneering work by Noble and his collaborators who have received previous NIH funding, according to the hospital. Their research focuses on fibrosis, an invasive overgrowth of fibrous, connective tissue connected to both potentially fatal lung disorders.

Health business reporter Dana Bartholomew can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @_DanaBart.