Dr Swenson is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Bronchiectasis & Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease Program at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Additionally, he is the Section Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Emory St. Joseph’s campus and the Chief of Medicine for the hospital.  

Dr Swenson’s research interests include infectious pulmonary diseases, particularly nontuberculous mycobacterial disease, and clinical outcomes in patients with bronchiectasis and NTM-PD. He is the Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials evaluating novel treatments for bronchiectasis and nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease and directs both the Bronchiectasis Research, Education, and Therapeutics (BREATHE) initiative and the 

bronchiectasis biorepository and data warehouse exchange (BRIDGE) at Emory. 

He has published articles on topics such as nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary infections, the recognition and treatment of bronchiectasis, and the treatment of eosinophilic asthma. He is the associate editor of Chest Infections for the journal CHEST Pulmonary and frequently lectures on the diagnosis and treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis.

Research center, environment, and broad types of research

The Bronchiectasis Research, Education and Advanced Therapeutics at Emory (BREATHE) program employs 3 research coordinators and one clinical trials manager, exclusively dedicated to bronchiectasis and NTM-PD research. The program is co-located at the Emory St. Joseph’s hospital campus and Emory University’s Executive Park. The biorepository is located at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta campus, where samples are collected from both adults and children living with bronchiectasis and/or NTM pulmonary disease. The integrated adult-pediatric biorepository and data warehouse enables high clinical characterization of biological specimens of all kinds and facilitates basic and translational research across the lifespan of pwBENTM.

Current research projects include:

Evaluation of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor in non-CF bronchiectasis:

A clinical trial of 29 participants given 28 days of ETI to evaluate clinical outcomes, as well as impacts to sweat chloride and spirometry. A concurrent study is systematically evaluating 250 all-comers in the adult bronchiectasis clinic for sweat chloride values and F508del screening. Both trials are funded by the Marcus Foundation. 

Another project is enrolling 15 adults and 15 pediatric pwBE in the BRIDGE repository to study neutrophil phenotypes and metabolomics in NCFB, as well as Pseudomonas in this patient population. This project is a collaborative pilot that is internally funded in anticipation of extramural funding in 2026.

We are also beginning a PCD-specific project evaluating neutrophil and metabolomic outcomes pre and post brensocatib. This is an internally-funded pilot project.

NTM and/or bronchiectasis research publications

1. Swenson CE, Hunt WR, Manfredi C, Beltran DJ, Hong JS, Davis BR, Suzuki S, Barillá C, Rab A, Chico C, Dangerfield J, Streby A, Barton E, Cox EM, Stecenko AA, Westbrook A, Kapolka R, Sorscher EJ. Evaluating elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor (ETI; Trikafta™) for treatment of patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBE): A clinical study protocol. PLoS One. 2025 Feb 14;20(2):e0316721. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316721. PMID: 39951444; PMCID: PMC11828409.
2. C. Swenson, M. Marmor, G.M. Solomon, K. Jakharia, and A. Brunton. Inhaled Anticholinergics in Bronchiectasis: Prescribing Practices, Exacerbations, and Culture Data From the US Bronchiectasis and Nontuberculous Mycobacterium Research Registry [abstract]. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2025;211:A3177
3. Lamothe PA, Pruett CLH, Smirnova N, Shepherd A, Runnstrom MC, Park J, Zhang RH, Zhao L, Swenson C, Lee FE. Anti-IL-4Ra therapy is superior to other biologic classes in treating allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. J Allergy Clin Immunol Glob. 2024 Nov 12;4(1):100369. doi: 10.1016/j.jacig.2024.100369. PMID: 39736892; PMCID: PMC11683235.
4. Marll M, Swenson C. Plastic Bronchitis in HIV-associated Kaposi Sarcoma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2024 Oct 11. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202402-0405IM. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39393816.
5. Runnstrom MC, Lamothe PA, Faliti CE, Cheedarla N, Moreno A, Suthar MS, Nahata R, Ravindran M, Haddad NS, Morrison-Porter A, Quehl H, Ramonell RP, Woodruff M, Anam F, Zhang R, Swenson C, Polito C, Neveu W, Patel R, Smirnova N, Nguyen DC, Kim C, Hentenaar I, Kyu S, Usman S, Ngo T, Guo Z, Wu H, Daiss JL, Park J, Manning KE, Wali B, Ellis ML, Sharma S, Holguin F, Cheedarla S, Neish AS, Roback JD, Sanz I, Eun-Hyung Lee F. Patients taking benralizumab, dupilumab, or mepolizumab have lower postvaccination SARS-CoV-2 immunity. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024 Aug;154(2):435-446. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2024.03.029. Epub 2024 Jun 13. PMID: 38878020; PMCID: PMC11305925.
6. Swenson C, Ali J. Aerosolized Liposomal Amikacin and Laryngeal Injury. Chest. 2021 Sep;160(3):e316-e317. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2021.05.050. PMID: 34488977; PMCID: PMC8579316.
7. Channick CL, Garrison G, Huie TJ, Narewski E, Caplan-Shaw C, Cho J, Rafeq S, Alalawi R, Alashram R, Bailey KL, Carmona EM, Habib N, Kapolka R, Krishnan A, Lammi MR, Peck T, Pennington KM, Rali P, Small BL, Swenson C, Witkin A, Hayes MM. ATS Core Curriculum 2020. Adult Pulmonary Medicine. ATS Sch. 2020 Oct 8;1(4):416-435. doi: 10.34197/ats-scholar.2020-0016RE. PMID: 33870311; PMCID: PMC8015759.
8. Swenson C, Lapinel NC, Ali J. Clinical Management of Respiratory Adverse Events Associated With Amikacin Liposome Inhalation Suspension: Results From a Patient Survey. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Mar 2;7(4):ofaa079. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofaa079. PMID: 32322600; PMCID: PMC7162617.
9. Swenson C, Del Parigi A. Amikacin Liposome Inhalation Suspension as a Treatment Option for Refractory Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease Caused by Mycobacterium avium Complex. Mayo Clin Proc. 2020 Jan;95(1):201-202. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2019.10.024. PMID: 31902419.
10. Ramonell RP, Lee FE, Swenson C, Kuruvilla M. Dupilumab treatment for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis: A case series. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2020 Feb;8(2):742-743. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2019.11.031. Epub 2019 Dec 4. PMID: 31811944; PMCID: PMC9161156.

NTM training opportunities

At the present time, we have opportunities for internal (Emory) residents and fellows only. We plan to offer both research and clinical training opportunities to external pulmonary and infectious disease fellows in the future.

Center structure, patient population, physician or other capacity

The Bronchiectasis & NTM clinic currently cares for over 500 patients living with BENTM, serving a large geographic area from the greater Atlanta metro region to more rural locations within Georgia and neighboring states. The clinics are located at both the Emory St. Joseph’s campus and at Emory University’s Executive Park. There are currently 4 providers in the Program, including two pulmonologists, one infectious disease doctor, and one nurse practitioner.

Website

Emory is currently revamping the University and Healthcare websites. The BE and NTM program will have dedicated sites when the update is complete.