Clinical Trials

Clinical trials and clinical research studies are crucial to understanding pulmonary diseases and developing ways to prevent or treat lung problems in children and adults. Just as we have very active basic research programs, the Division of Pulmonary Medicine research has a very active and robust clinical-trials program. Our investigators are conducting over 30 clinical trials, covering nearly all pulmonary disorders.

Multiple investigator-initiated CF trials focus on non-invasive MRI assessment of treatment efficacy (Jason Woods, PhD) and their effects on nutrition and body fat fraction (Thomas Boat, MD), while a number of industry sponsored clinical trials are led by Gary Lewis McPhail, MD, and Christopher Siracusa, MD. The CF Learning Network project now encompasses 39 centers. This multifaceted research is led by Michael Seid, PhD, and focuses on interventions to improve healthcare delivery by including all related persons and systems.

Over the last 20 years, Raouf Amin, MD, has led a multidisciplinary research program to understand the pathophysiology of upper airway dysfunction in CF and during sleep, focusing in part on the cardiovascular and neurocognitive morbidities of sleep-disordered breathing and the pathology of upper airway function. Alister Bates, PhD, has recently led a trial to understand the effects of hypoglossal nerve stimulators (HGNS), which purport to affect patients’ airway resistance, work of breathing, and the neuromuscular activity of the structures making up the airway wall during sleep.

Multi-center asthma clinical trials in preschool- and school-aged children are also a large focus of the division. As part of the Asthma Center, Theresa Guilbert, MD, MS, leads these studies, some of which attempt to reduce asthma related symptoms and co-morbidities in high risk populations. These trials have been some of the first in the nation to demonstrate efficacy of new therapeutics in specific phenotypes and endotypes of asthma.