Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Profile

Charles Atwood, MD is a CHERP Core Investigator and Director, Sleep Disorders Program, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. He is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Sleep apnea management with a focus on novel ways to diagnose and provide long-term care for sleep apnea patients-In particular, in the role of home sleep apnea testing as a way of diagnosing sleep apnea. Working closely with with Dr. Pat Strollo, Dr. Charles Atwood studies home sleep apnea testing and other aspects of sleep apnea diagnosis and therapy. He has also worked with the pacemaker industry (Guidant/Boston Scientific) on studies examining various aspects of pacemaker technology as a possible diagnostic or treatment device in sleep apnea. He is currently collaborating with Dr. John Hotchkiss and others in the Department of Critical Care Medicine on studies looking at new methods of identifying physiological patterns in sleep apnea that may allow for better clinical phenotyping of sleep apnea patients.

Dr. Atwood collaborates with the Emphysema Research Center on clinical trials in the area of longterm oxygen therapy and COPD. Through the ERC, he is part of the NIH's COPD clinical research network. Working with Dr. Roxann Gross of the UPMC Eye and Ear Institute, Dr. Atwood studies various aspects of the regulation of swallowing and breathing. This work has led to a better understanding of some basic physiological mechanisms with possible practical relevance that may lead to better therapy for dysphagia. Dr. Atwood started a program at the VAPHS for the rapid evaluation of lung nodules referred to the pulmonary division.