Johns Hopkins University (DU Consortium)

The LHC-JHU Bayview site have been collaborating for years to conduct field studies which have helped to better understand the epidemiology of chronic respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) with regards to environmental exposures in the low-income urban community in East Baltimore. Our team has a vast experience implementing and conducting clinical trials/multicenter studies (ie:

• Subpopulations & Intermediate Outcome Measure in COPD – SPIROMICS (NIH/5111453)
• Genetic Epidemiology of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The COPDGene® Study: Phase 3 (U01 HL089897)
• Obesity Enhances Susceptibility to Pollutant Effects in Asthma (P50ES018176)
• Motivational interviewing and air cleaners for smokers with COPD (MOVE COPD) (R01ES029512)
• Pulmonary Trials Cooperative (PTC) Redefining Therapy IN early COPD (RETHINC) trial (NHLBI/ COPD Foundation)
• Intervention Trial to Reduce Nitrogen Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in Baltimore Cit (FR-5200-N-01A).
• Clinical trial of an air purifier intervention to reduce indoor particulate matter and improve cardiovascular outcomes in COPD ( R01ES022607))

In addition to a range of faculty expertise, the investigators have considerable equipment, space, and personnel resources as well, including monitoring equipment for pollutants, lung function equipment, and a large staff of coordinators, assistants, field staff, environmental technicians and phlebotomists. Resources from the Center will be available for the proposed study:

The Lung Health Research Center comprises 1200 square feet of space in the Asthma and Allergy Center. This facility includes interview, examination, blood drawing and processing, secure drug, frozen specimen, and record storage, and lung function testing facilities. The research area is fully equipped to perform all of the proposed research. Clinical research and field staff will be based in the Lung Health Research Center where there is ample infrastructure (computers, office space, telephone connections, access to electronic health records), and proximity to study investigators to support the study.

Pulmonary Division Outpatient Clinics (JHOPC): The Johns Hopkins Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine has 39 clinically active physicians who see 11,176 outpatient visits per year, including approximate 1200 patients with COPD and 1500 with Asthma.

Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center (JHBMC) and Pulmonary Care Unit (PCU): JHBMC is a 275-bed community hospital and referral center with a total of about 7,000 admissions per year. JHMBC is located less than 3 miles from the Johns Hopkins Hospital campus (approximately 10 minutes by car). The Faculty in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, including Drs. Hansel, serve as Attending physicians at both Johns Hopkins Hospital and the JHBMC. The PCU is a 12-bed specialized care unit within JHBMC designed for adults with respiratory diseases and staffed by Pulmonary Division Faculty. In the past year there were 1,046 patients admitted with a COPD diagnosis.

*Our team has access to HRCT imaging support from the JHOPC and the JHBMC clinics.

The Johns Hopkins University COPD Precision Medicine Center of Excellence (COPD PMCOE) infrastructure (directed by Dr. Hansel, PI of the current center proposal) will facilitate identification of appropriate patients for the current study, which include over 1,200 who visit our pulmonary clinics yearly and over 1500 with Asthma.