Legacy for Airway Health

Established in 2018, Legacy for Airway Health (LAH) strives to lead and accelerate the creation and translation of knowledge into world-class prevention of and equitable care for, persons living with, or at risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma.

LAH works closely with an active group of patients and at-risk individuals whose lived experience, and passion for optimizing airways disease prevention and care, led them to form our Community Partner Committee (CPC). The CPC is exemplary of the collaborative LAH environment that increases opportunities for ongoing and meaningful engagement with our community. LAH’s inclusive and interactive framework ensures that our research best includes and serves our partners, including those suffering from or susceptible to developing airways disease as well as relevant decision-makers in the public health and care delivery arena. The BC SUPPORT Unit within Michael Smith Health Research BC helps guide our planning and training for patient and community engagement.

Research

LAH leads and supports meaningful inter-disciplinary research and evaluation that deliberately connects deepening understanding of underlying roots of airways disease with complementary intervention and implementation strategies. Grounded in a belief in the power of consultation and collaboration, our team of scientific, clinical, and translational experts builds and leverages strong partnerships with patients, at-risk populations, policy makers, and other key knowledge users in order to fill knowledge gaps. Targeting our research and engagement in this way enhances our ability to bridge valleys of death across the translational spectrum relevant to airways disease prevention and management.

This strong framework buttresses LAH researchers and affiliated faculty members as they lead projects focused on preventing and improving care of airways diseases (asthma and COPD). Specific research foci vary in response to identified needs and emerging priorities. LAH research has contributed to our knowledge about wildfire smoke and climate change, smoking and vaping, severe asthma, related economics and outcomes, predictive analytics and decision-making models, communication tools, and improving models of care. CPC members participate invaluably and meaningfully as patient partners in projects lead by members of the LAH Scientific Team or their collaborators.

Care

LAH does not provide direct patient care services, but uses an interdisciplinary, integrated knowledge translation approach to promote equitable asthma and COPD care through:

  1. Engaging patients, clinicians, decision-makers, policymakers, and researchers to identify gaps and opportunities for significant improvements that ensure care for asthma and COPD along the continuum of care and across the geographic and socio-economic spectrum.
  2. Research to illuminate underlying foundations of suboptimal care, disparities in airways disease progression and outcomes, and novel interventions to diminish such discrepancies.
  3. Applying data analytics, knowledge translation, and implementation science tools to translate health research findings into sensitively personalized care as well as improved behaviours, practices, and policies to reduce the burden of asthma and COPD more broadly.

This model of targeted knowledge generation and application is poised to transform the current landscape for asthma and COPD clinical care into a more consistent and equitable space where everyone receives the best available care.

Research

LAH leads and supports meaningful inter-disciplinary research and evaluation that deliberately connects deepening understanding of underlying roots of airways disease with complementary intervention and implementation strategies. Grounded in a belief in the power of consultation and collaboration, our team of scientific, clinical, and translational experts builds and leverages strong partnerships with patients, at-risk populations, policy makers, and other key knowledge users in order to fill knowledge gaps. Targeting our research and engagement in this way enhances our ability to bridge valleys of death across the translational spectrum relevant to airways disease prevention and management.

This strong framework buttresses LAH researchers and affiliated faculty members as they lead projects focused on preventing and improving care of airways diseases (asthma and COPD). Specific research foci vary in response to identified needs and emerging priorities. LAH research has contributed to our knowledge about wildfire smoke and climate change, smoking and vaping, severe asthma, related economics and outcomes, predictive analytics and decision-making models, communication tools, and improving models of care. CSC members participate invaluably and meaningfully as patient partners in projects lead by members of the LAH Scientific Team or their collaborators.

Care

LAH does not provide direct patient care services, but uses an interdisciplinary, integrated knowledge translation approach to promote equitable asthma and COPD care through:

  1. Engaging patients, clinicians, decision-makers, policymakers, and researchers to identify gaps and opportunities for significant improvements that ensure care for asthma and COPD along the continuum of care and across the geographic and socio-economic spectrum.
  2. Research to illuminate underlying foundations of suboptimal care, disparities in airways disease progression and outcomes, and novel interventions to diminish such discrepancies.
  3. Applying data analytics, knowledge translation, and implementation science tools to translate health research findings into sensitively personalized care as well as improved behaviours, practices, and policies to reduce the burden of asthma and COPD more broadly.

This model of targeted knowledge generation and application is poised to transform the current landscape for asthma and COPD clinical care into a more consistent and equitable space where everyone receives the best available care.

People