Emir Festic, M.D.

Emir Festic, M.D., studies acute respiratory failure due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). He helped to develop and complete multicenter studies on the treatment and prevention of ARDS. The long-term goal of his research is to develop effective prevention strategies for ARDS.

Dr. Festic was previously able to confirm in a propensity-score matched analysis that pre-hospital treatment with inhaled corticosteroids appeared to confer a protective benefit against ARDS. He is conducting a prospective, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial with inhaled budesonide and formoterol for prevention or amelioration of ARDS. This research is funded with a 2012 KL2 Mentored Career Development Program grant.

Focus areas

• How can we identify patients early who will progress into fully established ARDS? Dr. Festic is participating and conducting trials where patients are enrolled early in the hospital course without established lung injury to identify those at risk of progressing into ARDS. By identifying these patients early, the enrollment into future studies on ARDS prevention will be facilitated.
• How can we identify potential prevention agents for ARDS, with a focus on inhaled agents? Dr. Festic and colleagues performed observational studies on roles of numerous medications in ARDS prevention. They are currently studying effects of preventive aspirin on incidence and biomarkers of ARDS. They plan to study in a similar fashion inhaled corticosteroids, inhaled beta agonists and inhaled hypertonic saline.

Significance to patient care

Identification of safe, inexpensive and widely available agents, such as inhaled corticosteroids for example, that can prevent or attenuate lung injury in patients at high risk of ARDS would be a substantial step toward prevention of this life-threatening condition.

Professional highlights

• Invited Editorial Board Member, ARDS Journal, 2012