Study Findings

Studies that are closed to enrollment and in the data-analysis phase: 

Natural Killer T-Cell Study 

Goal: We sought to characterize an immune cell called natural killer T cells in blood samples from patients with sarcoidosis to better understand their role in disease progression.
Findings from this study are published PMCID: PMC3869389.

BRonchoscopy at Initial sarcoidosis diagnosis Targeting longitudinal Endpoints (BRITE) Study

Goal: We aimed to measure immune cell populations in the lung lavage fluid present near the time of diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Over the following 18 months, we tracked those populations in lung lavage to understand which populations are associated with progressive pulmonary disease.
The study protocol and early results are published PMCID: PMC8578977; PMCID: PMC9997938.

Sarcoidosis Epigenetic T-Cell Study 

Goal: The focus was to measure the epigenomic signature of specific histone post-translational modifications associated with CD4+ T cell polarization and activity in blood and lung fluid from patients with sarcoidosis. Findings were compared between patients with remitting and progressive sarcoidosis. 

Sarc2.0 Study 

Goal: We performed comprehensive clinical and biospecimen phenotyping to understand the patterns of disease affliction across a heterogeneous population of sarcoidosis patients.
​The protocol and findings are published PMCID: PMC7387715; PMCID: PMC7028429; PMCID: PMC6594698; PMID: 29628134; PMID: 29580067; PMID: 28707108; PMID: 25142485; PMCID: PMC4176097; PMCID: PMC3262024.

Genomic Research in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency and Sarcoidosis (GRADS) Study 

Goal: We aimed to identify peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) gene expression patterns that characterize distinct sarcoidosis phenotypes. We also sought to determine whether patterns in the lung microbiome are associated with sarcoidosis severity and disease phenotypes.
The protocol and findings are published PMCID: PMC4627423; PMCID: PMC4910899PMCID: PMC9759791.

Effects of Air Pollution Constituents on Human Immune Cell Function Study 

Goal: To understand how air pollution measurements affect the expression of genes and proteins on human T-cells from patients with sarcoidosis.