REACH-SPIROMICS: Research on Environmental Aeroallergens, COPD, and Health in SPIROMICS

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Exposures to pollen and other ambient aeroallergens are well-established drivers of allergic rhinitis and asthma, but their role in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is largely unknown. A lack of aeroallergen monitoring data has contributed to limited research in this area, despite expanding aeroallergen levels associated with climate change. Monitoring technology for aeroallergens is advancing rapidly based on image analysis using artificial intelligence (AI), providing an opportunity to measure aeroallergen concentrations in near-real time and at multiple-locations. Our overall objective is to determine the impact of short- and long-term aeroallergen exposure on COPD outcomes and to ascertain whether allergic phenotypes among those with COPD—including blood eosinophil count, aeroallergen sensitization, sputum characteristics and airway transcriptomics—alter susceptibility to adverse health effects of aeroallergens. We leverage the SPIROMICS and SOURCE cohorts that comprise uniquely phenotyped, prospectively characterized participants with COPD or at high risk for developing COPD. We will develop taxa-specific estimates of daily and seasonal aeroallergen concentrations at individual home addresses using existing data from the nearest National Allergy Bureau (NAB) aeroallergen counting station (between-city measures) and sophisticated fine- scale, spatiotemporal models of aeroallergen concentrations (within-city measures) using advanced geospatial exposure models that incorporate not only the historical NAB monitoring data but also high resolution monitoring data from new aeroallergen monitors with AI-based image analysis. We will assess whether both short- and long-term ambient aeroallergen exposures are associated with respiratory symptoms, frequency and timing of exacerbations, lung function decline by spirometry, CT-based quantitative emphysema and small airway abnormalities, and disease prognosis in the well-characterized SPIROMICS and SOURCE participants. These results will provide historic and real-time pollen counts to inform risk communication, develop personalized treatment approaches and exposure mitigation strategies for patients with COPD, and forecast new risks due to the changing environment. Project Number: 1R01HL178727-01 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) | Principal Investigator: Joel Kaufman (+2 co-PIs) | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WA | Award Amount: $1,340,292 | Activity Code: R01 | Study Section: Social and Environmental Determinants of Health Study Section[SEDH] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1R01HL17872701