University of North Carolina Hospital (DU Consortium)

The UNC Obstructive Lung Diseases Clinical and Translational Research Center is located at the Marsico Clinical Research Center (MCRC). Our center includes four pulmonary physicians with expertise in COPD, asthma, and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. We also have two full time research coordinators who oversee the conduct of clinical trials in chronic lung diseases. The MCRC was established at the University of North Carolina in 2015. The Pulmonary/Critical Care Division at UNC developed this off-campus facility to support the efficient conduct of clinical research studies and trials by members of the division, as well as other qualified members of the UNC School of Medicine faculty. This 4000 sq. ft. state of the art facility is adjacent to the UNC Pulmonary Specialty Clinic, UNC Diabetes Clinic, UNC Diabetes Research Center, and in the same building as the UNC Cardiovascular Center and the UNC GI Procedures Unit. The MCRC houses 4 patient examination rooms, a Mucociliary Clearance (MCC) Imaging lab, specimen processing and storage wet lab (-80C freezer; -20C freezer; refrigerator; centrifuge, pH meter, pipettes and other general laboratory equipment); secure study supply and study binder storage rooms, 6 research offices, and 6 work cubicles. Common and unique clinical procedures are carried out at the MCRC, including spirometry, phlebotomy, multiple breath washout measurements (lung clearance index determination) and mucociliary clearance studies. Our center is actively engaged in Phase II and Phase III clinical trials, observational cohort studies, and investigator-initiated research studies across COPD and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.