# Environmental Factors Predicting Risk of Severe COVID Infection

> **NIH NIH R21** · NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH · 2022 · $205,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/ Abstract
The objective of this project is to identify the effect of air pollution on the risk and severity of
COVID-19 illness. Air pollution may increase the risk of viral infections of the lung in general
and there is emerging evidence that COVID-19 illness may be increased in regions where air
pollution levels are high. Identification of factors that increase risk of COVID-19 illness will have
major public health impacts. We will assess the incidence, prevalence and severity of COVID-19
infection within COPDGene, a well-characterized, longitudinal cohort of subjects with and
without existing lung disease. The cohort is distributed at 20 clinical centers across the United
States and includes subjects with a broad distribution of socioeconomic characteristics, rural
and urban locations and air pollution exposures. The cohort was enriched for African-American
subjects. We will adjust for other socioeconomic factors in the models using county level
census data and normalize the cohort data to county level disease prevalence. Longitudinal
analyses of COVID-19 incidence in relation to changing levels of monthly air pollution will be
done and the impact of pre-existing lung disease on the outcomes will be studied. The air
pollution data will be based on spatial analysis of the cohort using satellite and ground
monitoring measures of particulates, NOx, SO2, CO and ozone, to identify factors that modify
risk of: any disease, severe disease or death. The impact of air pollution on lung structural
damage after COVID-19 illness will be measured using pre and post-COVID chest CT scans and
spirometric changes in the cohort to identify extent of lung involvement and persistent effects.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10488177
- **Project number:** 5R21ES032973-02
- **Recipient organization:** NATIONAL JEWISH HEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** ELIZABETH ANNE REGAN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $205,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-14 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10488177

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10488177, Environmental Factors Predicting Risk of Severe COVID Infection (5R21ES032973-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10488177. Licensed CC0.

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