# Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disase in WTC Workers - Diagnoses and Transitions

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · 2024 · $498,562

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Our long-term goal has been to characterize the heterogeneous group of chronic lower airway
diseases (LAD) observed in World Trade Center (WTC) workers and volunteers, uncover their risk factors and
comorbidities, identify subgroups with adverse and favorable lung function trajectories and outcomes, and
develop and deploy novel imaging approaches to the investigation of the lung injury underlying them. Such
goal will in turn translate into better understanding of disease pathophysiology, more targeted,
personalized, and perhaps disease modifying treatment approaches, and improved surveillance and
prevention strategies.
 The goal of this project has been to characterize the transitions into chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD) among former workers and volunteers at the WTC disaster site. Following our objective
characterization of our COPD cases, our multidisciplinary investigative team proposes to establish the
quantitative computed tomography (QCT) characteristics that may differentiate WTC-related from non-
WTC-related COPD, investigate characteristics and longitudinal lung function trajectories of WTC patients
with pre-COPD, and investigate lung mechanical strain (LMS) as an early QCT marker of lung injury
associated with chronic disease and accelerated longitudinal lung function decline.
 This project will be conducted in the occupational cohort followed at Mount Sinai. To that end, we
will utilize the WTC Pulmonary Evaluation Unit Chest CT Imaging Archive, a large repository with more than
3000 chest CT images on 1700 WTC workers, as well as linked datasets with disease symptoms, both pre-
WTC and WTC-related occupational exposures, detailed pulmonary function and longitudinal spirometry
measurements and body weight trends, visual imaging classification and grading, and quantitative computer
tomography (QCT) measurements of airway, body composition, and pulmonary parenchymal and vascular
abnormalities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10886482
- **Project number:** 5U01OH011697-05
- **Recipient organization:** ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
- **Principal Investigator:** Rafael E. de la Hoz
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $498,562
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10886482

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10886482, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disase in WTC Workers - Diagnoses and Transitions (5U01OH011697-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10886482. Licensed CC0.

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