Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates of Baltimore (PCCAB) is a practice of well-established pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine physicians. Established in 1996, the practice has grown to include 35 physicians and a supporting staff of registered nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists and medical assistants, making it the largest known pulmonary and critical care practice in the US. Physicians of PCCAB are board certified or board eligible in pulmonary medicine, critical care medicine, internal medicine, and sleep medicine. In addition to providing hospital and office based care of patients, the physicians of PCCAB are leaders in medical education with active roles in the training of medical students and resident physicians. PCCAB physicians direct the intensive care units at seven Baltimore area hospitals and admit patients to eleven hospitals in the Baltimore area.

Our Primary Locations
Hospital Affiliations

• Franklin Square Hospital
• Good Samaritan Hospital
• Greater Baltimore Medical Center
• Sinai Hospital
• St. Joseph Medical Center
• Union Memorial Hospital
• Upper Chesapeake Medical Center

The physicians of PCCAB care for patients with diseases of the respiratory tract and hospitalized patients with complex, sometimes life-threatening, critical illnesses. PCCAB physicians have expertise in the diagnosis and management of disorders including asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, obstructive sleep apnea, sarcoidosis, occupational lung disease, pneumonia, lung cancer, pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, and pulmonary fibrosis.

Our centers also provide sleep studies, consultative services to arrange evaluations, and offer post-study review sessions with patients. We also provide a variety of educational resources, as well as our CPAP support groups. Some of the many disorders we manage include: Sleep Apnea, Snoring, Restless Leg Syndrome, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, and Pediatric Sleep Disorders.

PCCAB has been involved in research for many years, but due to increasing size has recently added a dedicated research department.

Current Sponsors

• Alveolus
• ARDSnet
• Bronchus technologies
• Cellvizio
• CSA Medical
• National Institute on Aging
• Respiratory and Allergic Disease Foundation
• Spiration
• SuperDimension

Previous Sponsors

• Abbott
• Galaxo Smith Klein
• Orphan Pharmaceuticals

PCCAB is a group of 35 physicians and support staff that manage or direct the ICU at seven hospitals surrounding the Baltimore area. The large area they serve helps to make for an unusually large pool of potential research patients from referrals within the practice. We also serve as the directors and interpreting physicians of sleep labs in 14 different facilities in Maryland. Combined these sleep labs have 50 beds and conduct over 9000 sleep studies per year.

PCCAB also has several interventional pulmonologists with expertise in several cutting edge techniques including; autoflourescence bronchoscopy (AFB), endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), CT guided flexible bronchoscopy, and fiducial marking for stereotaxic radiosurgery.

Principal Investigators include:

• William Krimsky, MD; Interventional Pulmonology
• Peter Sloane, MD; ARDS, ALI, Critical Care
• Mitchel Schwartz, MD; Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
• Brian Bohner, MD;Sleep Medicine, Narcolepsy
• Linda Barr, MD; Critical Care

Sub investigators

• Sayaid Sarkar, MD; Interventional Pulmonology
• Stuart Willes, MD; Critical Care
• Ajay Behari, MD; Critical care

PCCAB has its own dedicated research department. Dr. David Highfield is the research director, with over 20 years of research experience ranging from behavioral pharmacology to treatment outcome research. He also teaches research methods at Towson University as an adjunct professor.

The medical director is Dr. William Krimsky. Dr. Krimsky is an expert in Interventional Pulmonolgy. He is involved in several device trials and serves as the medical consultant for several companies. Under his leadership Franklin Square Hospital is recognized as an Olympus Center of Excellence. In addition, Dr. Krimsky teaches methods of navigational bronchoscopy to interested physicians.

The research department is overseen by a Research Committee made up of 6 dedicated physicians in our practice who help to determine the best methods of recruiting patients and educating other physicians about available research opportunities.

PCCAB is the largest known practice of pulmonary and critical care physicians in the country. We draw patients from the entire Maryland area, especially the area surrounding the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan area. We conduct over 24,000 patient visits per year, managing over 4500 COPD patients, 2500 asthma patients, and 300 Pulmonary hypertension patients. We also conduct over 9000 sleep studies per year.

PCCAB is unique in that it can offer trials and recruitment at many different sites. Principal investigators are situated at multiple locations allowing us to determine the most appropriate central location for each trial. By referring patients to trials within our own practice we ensure maximal recruitment and patient satisfaction.

CenterWatch is listing the following trials that are actively recruiting patients at this center.

• The EASE Trial: An investigation of the Exhale® Drug-Eluting Stent in homogeneous emphysema patients with severe hyperinflation
• The IBV Trial . An Investigational treatment for people suffering from Emphysema

For more information, please contact:

David Highfield
Research Director
Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates of Baltimore
400 Redland Ct., Suite 208
Owings Mills, MD 21117 USA
Phone: 410-494-7921
Fax: 410-902-8247
E-mail:

If you are interested in contacting this center to discuss placing a clinical trial there, please complete and send the E-mail form below. A representative from the research center will then follow up with you.

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Last updated on November 6, 2008