George T. O'Connor, MD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

My research focuses on epidemiology, including genetic epidemiology, and clinical investigations of asthma, allergy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and sleep apnea. I am currently a multiple PI and Co-director of the NHLBI's Framingham Heart Study, and I am a co-investigator in the Risk Underlying Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Cohort Study. I am the Boston University-Boston Medical Center principal investigator of multiple NIH-funded multi-center investigations, including the All of Us Research Program, the Childhood Asthma in Urban Settings (CAUSE) consortium, and the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial (VDAART). I have led the BU-BMC site of clinical trials in children and adolescents with asthma and the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) birth-cohort study examining the risk factors for asthma and allergy in urban settings. l conduct epidemiologic and genetic epidemiologic research at the Framingham Heart Study, including genome-wide association studies seeking novel genetic determinants of lung function impairment, interstitial lung abnormalities, and atopy. My research spans disciplines including adult medicine, pediatrics, epidemiology, genetics and genomics, immunology, and environmental science. At Boston Medical Center, my outpatient practice focuses on adults with asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis. I am an Associate Editor of JAMA.

Publications

  • Published 9/1/2025

    Altman MC, Janczyk T, Murphy RC, Jayavelu ND, Calatroni A, Kattan M, Gill MA, Stokes J, Liu AH, Khurana Hershey GK, Sherenian M, Kumar R, Robison RG, Gruchalla RS, O'Connor GT, Zoratti EM, Teach SJ, Lynch SV, Dill-McFarland KA, Becker PM, Togias A, Gern JE, Bacharier LB, Busse WW, Jackson DJ. Inflammatory Pathways in Residual Asthma Exacerbations Among Mepolizumab-Treated Urban Children: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2025 Sep 01; 179(9):957-970. PMID: 40658400.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/11/2025

    Moore CM, Secor EA, Everman JL, Fairbanks-Mahnke A, Jackson N, Pruesse E, Diener K, Morin A, Arbes SJ, Bacharier LB, Bendixsen CG, Calatroni A, Dupont WD, Furuta GT, Gebretsadik T, Gruchalla RS, Gupta RS, Khurana Hershey GK, Kattan M, Liu AH, Lussier SJ, Murrison LB, Numata M, O'Connor GT, River-Spoljaric K, Phipatanakul W, Rothenberg ME, Seroogy CM, Zoratti EM, Castina S, Jackson DJ, Camargo CA, Johnson CC, Ethridge R, Ramratnam S, Stelzig L, Teach SJ, Togias AG, Fulkerson PC, Hartert TV, Seibold MA. The common cold is associated with protection from SARS-CoV-2 Infections. J Infect Dis. 2025 Aug 11. PMID: 40795882.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/30/2025

    Saw WY, Kim K, Huang Y, Yun JH, Ma X, Bacon J, Pershad Y, Levy D, O'Connor GT, Boerwinkle E, Barr RG, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Carson AP, Raffield LM, Gharib SA, Bartz TM, Psaty BM, Sofer T, North KE, Kaplan R, Oelsner EC, Manichaikul A, Bick AG, Sheet P, Reiner AP, Jakubek YA, Auer PL, Cho MH, DeMeo DL. Mosaic Loss of Y chromosome associates with lung function, emphysema and epigenetic aging. medRxiv. 2025 Jul 30. PMID: 40766134.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/24/2025

    da Silva Antunes R, Sutherland A, Abawi A, Frazier A, Pomés A, Glesner J, Slater JE, Mindaye ST, Cho K, Zhou G, Ozanne MV, Calatroni A, Visness CM, Altman MC, Wood RA, O'Connor GT, Pongracic JA, Khurana Hershey GK, Kercsmar CM, Gruchalla RS, Gill M, Searing D, Liu AH, Zoratti E, Kattan M, Busse PJ, Sheehan W, Bacharier LB, Teach SJ, Wheatley LM, Togias A, Busse WW, Jackson DJ, Sette A. Cockroach immunotherapy modulates dominant T-cell responses independent of allergen extract content. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2025 Jul 24. PMID: 40714043.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/22/2025

    Diaz AA, Balte PP, Han M, Kalhan R, Bhatt SP, Couper DJ, Jacobs DR, Daviglus ML, Loehr LR, London SJ, O'Connor GT, Schwartz JE, Gharib SA, Chaves PHM, Sanchez TR, Yende S, Bao R, Smith BM, White WB, Martinez FJ, Oelsner EC. Prevalence and Prognostic Significance of COPD in Adults Younger than 50 Years of Age. NEJM Evid. 2025 Aug; 4(8):EVIDoa2400424. PMID: 40693853.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 380 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Ad-interim Director; Co-Principle Investigator
    Framingham Heart Study
  • Member, Pulmonary Center
    Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Member, Genome Science Institute
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • Boston University School of Medicine, MD
  • Harvard School of Public Health, MS
  • Boston University, BA

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