Brown Bag Seminar: The air we share: Lessons from a career in pulmonary and global health research
William Checkley is a physician-scientist and global health expert whose research focuses on chronic respiratory diseases, particularly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). He is a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University with joint appointments in International Health and Biostatistics, and he directs the Center for Global Non-Communicable Disease Research and Training. He has authored >400 publications in peer-reviewed journals, with more than 24,000 citations and an h-index of 77.
Checkley’s work addresses the global burden of COPD, which disproportionately affects LMICs. His work spans a wide spectrum—from observational cohort studies identifying risk factors such as household air pollution and low lung growth and development, to randomized controlled trials testing interventions to improve disease outcomes in real-world settings. In collaboration with international partners, Checkley has led studies like the Global Excellence in COPD Outcomes (GECo) trial, which evaluates the effectiveness of community health worker-delivered self-management interventions for COPD in Nepal, Peru, and Uganda. These studies aim to improve COPD care in underserved populations. He has also developed and validated simple, cost-effective screening tools for COPD to facilitate early diagnosis and management in resource-limited settings.
Checkley is also committed to building research capacity in LMICs. He co-leads Fogarty International Center-funded training programs in Peru and elsewhere, focusing on environmental exposures and chronic pulmonary diseases, to mentor the next generation of researchers in these regions. Through his work, Checkley aims to reduce the global burden of chronic respiratory diseases by developing scalable, evidence-based interventions and fostering international collaborations.
Speaker Information
William Checkley
Organizers
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