George R. Washko Jr., MD, MMSc
Photo: George R. Washko

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Elected 2013

My primary area of research is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the integration of imaging into clinical investigation. I am interested in the relationship between lung structure and function, and my focus is on the radiologic manifestations of disease and their associations with clinical measures of severity. Investigation of these associations may provide a deeper understanding of COPD pathophysiology, identify more homogenous subsets of subjects for clinical investigation, and define intermediate endpoints for therapeutic intervention. I am actively involved in national and international clinical research consortia, and my lab is an integral part of several large lung imaging projects. We have developed and validated computed tomography–based measures of emphysema and pulmonary vascular disease and are applying them in epidemiologic and genetic investigation. Ultimately our goal is to apply these tools to other acute and chronic lung conditions.