The World Allergy Organization (WAO) Centers of Excellence Committee has selected the Duke Asthma Allergy and Airway Center (DAAAC) as a WAO Center of Excellence for the 2023-2025 term.
The WAO designates Center of Excellence status to academic institutions who intensify and accelerate multidisciplinary scientific and clinical innovation, education, and advocacy worldwide, providing excellence in education, research, training to various stakeholders in allergy, asthma and clinical immunology.
“I am very proud of our Center’s ability to not only provide outstanding comprehensive care to our patients, but also to be able to investigate and disseminate new knowledge about airway disease and its management,” said Loretta Que, MD, chief, division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care. Que leads DAAAC’s research enterprise, which currently has four studies in start-up, and five studies in data analysis.
The DAAAC is co-managed by Amber Oberle, MD, assistant professor in the division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, and Cristine Radojicic, MD, associate professor, Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine. The DAAAC serves as a site for the Asthma Program, which is co-directed by Oberle and Que.
“One of the things I am most proud of is our ability to assemble a multidisciplinary team of experts, all highly regarded in their respective fields, for the betterment of patient care,” said Oberle. “I am equally proud of our High Value Care Initiative partnerships with Duke University Health System, Performance Services and our excellent Asthma Navigator, Denise McKinnon, who have allowed us the ability to identify patients in Durham County and surrounding regions with the most frequent healthcare resource utilization. Together, we have been able to identify patients who we think would benefit from our multidisciplinary approach to asthma management and ultimately improve outcomes.”
The Duke Asthma Allergy and Airway Center was established in 2013 with the intent of bringing the clinical and research organizations within the same building to facilitate access to cutting edge trials for patients who suffered from asthma. The center focuses on the management of patients with airways disease, allergic and immunologic disorders.
The clinic offers a number of diagnostic tests related to airways disease, supported by four respiratory therapists who perform on-site pulmonary function testing. The DAAAC has a breadth of collaborations with specialists spanning different divisions and departments. This is one of the core strengths of the program and offers patients subspecialty expertise across a variety of fields including otolaryngology, gastroenterology, cardiology/exercise physiology, rheumatology, sleep medicine and weight management specialists.