Meredith McCormack, MD

Professional Titles

• Director, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine
• Director, Johns Hopkins Asthma Precision Medicine Center of Excellence
• Director, BREATHE - Bridging Research, Lung Health, and the Environment - Center
• Medical Director, Pulmonary Function Laboratory

Primary Academic Title

Professor of Medicine

Background

Centers and Institutes

Precision Medicine Center of Excellence for Asthma

Clinical Trials Summary

Currently, Dr. McCormack has multiple active research studies.

D.R.E.A.M. Determining the Relationship between Environment, sleep, and AsthMa - Pediatric Research (IRB00290724)
D.R.E.A.M. is a study of children between the ages of 8-17 years old. The goal of this study is to examine the link between environmental exposures and sleep patterns in children with asthma. Asthma Research (breathecenter.org)

Study of HIV Infection in the Etiology of Lung Disease (SHIELD) AIR: Air Pollution Impact on Respiratory Health in HIV (IRB00176082)
The goal is to extend SHIELD to address our overarching hypothesis that PLWH represent a population that is uniquely susceptible to the health effects of air pollution and that pollutant exposure contributes to the excess lung function impairment and respiratory morbidity among PLWH.

Deep Functional Phenotyping of the ALA Lung Health Cohort (IRB00273188)
The goal of this project is to study modifiable exposures and risk factors that influence lung health by their effects on the structural and functional changes in airways, pulmonary vasculature, and lung parenchyma among young adults in the United States. Participate in the Lung Health Cohort Study | American Lung Association 

Implementation of Asthma Community Home and School Management Program (Asthma CHAMPS; IRB00286330)
The goal of this project is to evaluate the implementation of a tailored multi-level asthma intervention program (Asthma CHAMPS: Community and Home Asthma Management Program in Schools) among elementary schools in Baltimore City to improve asthma outcomes among children in Baltimore city. Current Programs

Motivational interviewing and air cleaners for smokers with COPD (MOVE COPD; IRB00185955)
The goal is to better understand active smokers with COPD, which represent the largest subset of COPD patients. We propose a randomized controlled trial to test a home-based intervention (air cleaner placement and motivational interviewing for smoking cessation and secondhand smoke reduction) to improve health in smokers with COPD. COPD Research

Implementation of a multilevel program to reduce asthma symptoms in urban preschoolers (IRB00244099)
The purpose of this project is to evaluate the implementation of a community-based multi-level asthma program in YMCA Head Start programs to improve asthma symptoms in urban preschool children to reduce known health disparities.

Research Interests

Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Environmental exposures and lung disease

Lab Website

Meredith McCormack Lab

• Research in the Meredith McCormack Lab deals primarily with pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and the role of environmental exposures in lung diseases. We have researched the factors that contribute to inner-city asthma, with a focus on how particulate matter air pollution impacts pulmonary function. We are also part of the LIBERATE clinical study, which is focused on patients who experience difficulty breathing and have been diagnosed with severe emphysema. We also have a longstanding interest in the effects of race/ethnicity, poverty and urbanization on nutrition and food allergies.

Research Summary

Dr. McCormack is a pulmonologist with a research focus on the effect of air pollution, diet, and obesity on populations with underlying obstructive lung disease. She is the Director of the Bridging Research, Lung Health, and the Environment (BREATHE) Center. HOME (breathecenter.org) She has been funded by the NIEHS and the EPA to conduct home and school-based environmental cohort studies to understand the effects of indoor air pollution on children and adults with asthma and adults with COPD. Her work is largely focused in Baltimore City but has extended to rural areas of Washington State and Appalachia, as well as the Caribbean. Dr. McCormack has conducted trials of dietary and environmental interventions to understand the effect of diet and obesity as modifiers of susceptibility to air pollution. Her long-term goal is to reduce environmental health disparities to improve the health of susceptible patient populations with underlying obstructive lung disease.

PubMed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?dispmax=20&pmfilter_EDatLimit=added+to+PubMed+in+the+last+0+i&cmd_current=Limits&orig_cmd=Search&term=MCCORMACK+MC%5BAuthor+Name%5D&doptcmdl=DocSum

Selected Publications

• McCormack MC, Balasubramanian A, Matsui EC, Peng R, Wise RA, Keet CA. Race, Lung Function and Long-term Mortality in the National Health and Examination Survey III. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 Oct 1. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202104-0822LE

• Afshar-Mohajer N, Wu TD, Shade R, Brigham E, Woo H, Wood M, Koehl R, Koehler K, Kirkness J, Hansel NN, Ramchandran G, McCormack MC. Obesity, tidal volume, and pulmonary deposition of fine particulate matter in children with asthma. Eur Respir J. 2022 Mar 3;59(3):2100209. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00209-2021. PMID: 34385268; PMCID: PMC8837716

• Raju S, Astemborski J, Drummond MB, Ramamurthi HC, Sun J, Brown RH, Kirk GD, McCormack MC. Brief Report: HIV Is Associated With Impaired Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity Independent of Emphysema. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2022 Jan 1;89(1):64-68. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000002818. PMID: 34560768; PMCID: PMC8647697

• Raju S, Woo H, Koehler K, Fawzy A, Liu C, Putcha N, Balasubramanian A, Peng RD, Lin CT, Lemoine C, Wineke J, Berger RD, Hansel NN, McCormack MC. Indoor Air Pollution and Impaired Cardiac Autonomic Function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2022 Oct 26. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202203-0523OC. Online ahead of print. PMID: 36288428

• Wu TD, Fawzy A, Akenroye A, Keet C, Hansel NN, McCormack MC. Metformin Use and Risk of Asthma Exacerbation Among Asthma Patients with Glycemic Dysfunction. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2021 Nov;9(11):4014-4020.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2021.07.007. Epub 2021 Jul 19. PMID: 34293503; PMCID: PMC8675235

Honors

• Frederick L. Brancati Excellence in Mentoring Award
• Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society
• Delta Omega Honor Society for Public Health, 1/1/06

Graduate Program Affiliations

• Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences