What We Do
DESCRIPTION OF CONSORTIUMS PURPOSE
Osaka Lab is a leading global life sciences company that is deeply integrated in guiding patient care through its comprehensive clinical laboratory and end-to-end drug development services.
The NTM Research Consortium was established in 2014 by a group of researchers working to improve NTM patient care and outcomes. Since its inception, the consortium has met annually to further define its mission and vision and prioritize research questions that are important to patients and clinical stakeholders. Consortium members include representatives from patient advocacy groups, patients, clinical experts, epidemiologists, community physicians, researchers, and industry specializing in NTM research. Past meetings have resulted in new collaborations, funded grant applications, and publications. The consortium includes frequent collaborators Kevin Winthrop (Oregon Health and Science University), Dr. Charles Daley (National Jewish Health), Dr. David Griffith (National Jewish Health), and Dr. Kenneth Olivier (National Institutes of Health).
The Center’s leaders have a special expertise in the study of NTM infection. NTM are naturally-occurring organisms found in water and soil. An NTM lung infection can occur when a person inhales the bacteria from his or her normal environment. Many people never become ill after NTM infection, but others – including the elderly, some younger women and those with existing lung diseases – can develop significant lung problems.
Patients with more severe NTM disease – including those who undergo the 18 to 24 months of a multi-drug treatment used to combat it – can experience significant impacts on their quality of life. And unlike its well-studied “cousin” – Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis – much remains unknown about NTM. That complicates both the clinical care of patients and the design of clinical trials to learn more about how the disease can be treated.
Since 2006, OHSU has led a variety of projects exploring the natural history, burden and treatment of NTM and, more recently, bronchiectasis. (People with NTM infection also often have bronchiectasis). The Center is one of the founding U.S. research sites in the COPD Foundation’s Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry, which was established to help medical centers with expertise on bronchiectasis and NTM work together on research. The COPD Foundations has more recently founded a collection of clinical centers for excellence around bronchiectasis and NTM care, of which many NTMRC research sites also participate as clinical centers of excellence.
The Center places a strong emphasis on the patient-centered aspects of these diseases, and also has partnered with two patient advocacy organizations – NTM Info & Research and the COPD Foundation – on several projects studying the effectiveness of treatments for patients.
DESCRIPTION OF CONSORTIUMS PURPOSE
The NTM Research Consortium was established in 2014 by a group of researchers working to improve care and outcomes for patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease. Since its inception, the Consortium has met annually to further define its mission and vision and prioritize research questions important to patients and clinical stakeholders. Consortium members include representatives from patient advocacy groups, patients, clinical experts, epidemiologists, community physicians, researchers, and industry professionals specializing in NTM research. Past meetings have resulted in new collaborations, funded grant applications, and publications. The Consortium includes frequent collaborators Dr. Kevin Winthrop (Oregon Health & Science University), Dr. Charles Daley (National Jewish Health), Dr. David Griffith (National Jewish Health), and Dr. Kenneth Olivier (National Institutes of Health).
The Center’s leaders have specialized expertise in the study of NTM infections. NTM are naturally occurring organisms found in water and soil. NTM lung infections can occur when a person inhales these bacteria from their environment. Many people never become ill following exposure to NTM, but others—including older adults, some younger women, and people with existing lung diseases—can develop significant lung problems.
Patients with more severe NTM disease—including those who undergo 18 to 24 months of multidrug treatment—can experience significant impacts on their quality of life. Unlike its well-studied “cousin,” Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis, much remains unknown about NTM. This knowledge gap complicates both clinical care and the design of clinical trials to better understand how NTM disease can be treated.
Since 2006, OHSU has led a variety of projects exploring the natural history, burden, and treatment of NTM disease and, more recently, bronchiectasis. People with NTM infections also frequently have bronchiectasis. The Center is one of the founding U.S. research sites in the COPD Foundation’s Bronchiectasis and NTM Research Registry, which was established to help medical centers with expertise in bronchiectasis and NTM collaborate on research. More recently, the COPD Foundation established a network of clinical centers of excellence focused on bronchiectasis and NTM care, in which many NTMRC research sites also participate.
The Center places a strong emphasis on the patient-centered aspects of these diseases and has partnered with two patient advocacy organizations—NTM Info & Research and the COPD Foundation—on several projects studying the effectiveness of treatments for patients.
