University of Washington

The goal of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Airways Clinical Research Centers (ACRC) is to improve the well-being of individuals with asthma and COPD. Center Investigators are experts in conceptualizing, designing and conducting efficacy, effectiveness, and implementation studies. The Center is based at the Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington. The PNW ACRC consists of diversity in patient populations and clinical settings, including both urban and rural populations. The Center has a large geographic reach throughout the Northwest including clinical sites in Seattle, Washington (the University of Washington, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Harborview Medical Center, and Northwest Allergy and Asthma Center) as well as Boise, Idaho.

Our consortium also includes a number of investigators from the COPD Outcomes-based Clinical Effectiveness Research Network, an existing network of investigators and clinical sites dedicated to clinical effectiveness studies on COPD located throughout the country (including the University of Illinois at Chicago, Baystate Medical Center and University of North Carolina). These sites will allow us to engage in hospital based studies as well as lead interventions targeting the interface between the inpatient and outpatient settings.

Our investigators have led trials among patients with COPD in the use of oxygen (LOTT, PELICAN), behavioral interventions to improve communication around advanced care planning (Communication), weight loss interventions (INSIGHT), reducing hospital readmission for COPD (INCASE, RELIANCE) and quality of care for COPD (FACES, Safety- Quality through deimplementing ICS). These trials were funded by agencies including Department of Veterans Affairs, National Institutes of Health and Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.