Columbia Respiratory Epidemiology Program

Chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and globally. CLRD includes several, overlapping diseases: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or airflow limitation that does not fully reverse; emphysema, or lung tissue destruction; chronic bronchitis, or symptoms of chronic productive cough; and asthma, which is characterized by intermittent airflow limitation. The Columbia Respiratory Epidemiology Program (C-REP) aims to arrive at a better definition and understanding of CLRD by applying advanced imaging married to physiology, genomic and biologic approaches in the general population and to develop diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for these diseases.

The major cohorts, which provide an infrastructure for development and training, include the MESA Lung Study, the MESA COPD Study, the MESA Lung Imaging (machine-learning) Study and SPIROMICS, among other studies.

Leadership

  • R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH

    • Program Director
    • Hamilton Southworth Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
    • Chief, Division of General Medicine
    Profile Headshot

Our Faculty

Our Team

  • Kristina Buschur, PhD

    • Associate Research Scientist

  • Michael Backman

    • Statistical Analyst/Data Manager

  • Ramaz Elsadig

    • Project Coordinator II

  • Emilay Florez

    • Project Coordinator II

  • M. Lorena Gomez-Blum

    • Project Coordinator II

  • Natalia Ayana

    • Research Worker

Related Studies

The MESA COPD Study

The MESA COPD Study is a nested case-control study of COPD  to examine cardiopulmonary interactions in COPD. 325 participants were recruited in 2009-11 and reexamined in 2016-18. Measures include cardiopulmonary MRI, 3He MRI, full-lung CT scan, pulmonary function testing, cellular and blood biomarkers, and gene expression.

View the MESA COPD Study

The MESA Lung Study

The MESA Lung Study, part of the larger MESA Study, is funded around the endothelial hypothesis of emphysema and the significance of emphysema in the general population. It was the first population-based cohort to incorporate both lung function measured by spirometry and lung structure assessed on CT scans in the general population and is currently the longest-running large-scale study of lung imaging. It recruited 3,965 MESA participants in 2004-06 and recently completed spirometry and CT scans for over 2,650 participants in 2017-18. It provides a population laboratory for understanding CLRD.

View the MESA Lung Study

The NHLBI Pooled Cohorts Study

This large, US general population-based sample was developed by systematically harmonizing and pooling data from nine NIH-funded cohorts.

SPIROMICS

Columbia is one site for the SubPopulations and InteRmediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study, which  recruited almost 3,000 participants in 2009-11 and is currently reexamining them to determine sub-phenotypes and potential intermediate outcomes in COPD.  

COPD Gene Study

Columbia is one site for the COPD Gene Study, which recruited 10,000 participants to determine the genetic basis of COPD.