PFF Scholars: Dr. Gillian Goobie Publishes Air Pollution Study

Shortly after Gillian Goobie, MD, completed her two-year term award period as a PFF Scholar, she achieved a longtime goal: publication of her research analyzing how exposure to airborne pollutants over time affects clinical outcomes in patients with fibrotic ILDs. The article was published in JAMA Internal Medicine online in October 2022.

Dr. Goobie, while at the University of Pittsburgh, crossreferenced satellite-based pollution data with medical data from 6,500 patients with ILD, including 1,800 in the PFF Patient Registry. In addition to receiving financial support and mentorship separate from their primary mentor, applicants may include the use of PFF Registry data in their proposals. . “The PFF Patient Registry played a huge part in making this research successful,” she says.

What Are Your Local Air Pollutants?

Dr. Goobie tracked how patients with ILD did in terms of lung function decline, exacerbations, and mortality. Then, she put that information in the context of annualized levels near patient homes of a type of air