George T. O’Connor MD
Professor, Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Member, Genome Science Institute
72 E. Concord Street | (617) 638-4470george.oconnor@bmc.org
goconnor@bu.edu
Sections
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine
Centers
Pulmonary Center
Framingham Heart Study
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
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.
Websites
Boston Medical Center Provider Profile
Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine Faculty
Education
MD, Boston University School of Medicine
MS, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, Boston University
Publications
Zhang J, Moll M, Debban CL, Hobbs BD, Rijhwani H, Washko GR, Celli BR, Silverman EK, Bakke P, Oelsner EC, Barr RG, Agustí A, Faner R, Bruselle GG, Humphries SM, Lynch DA, Dupuis J, Manichaikul AW, O'Connor GT, Cho MH. BMI-Related Genetic Factors and COPD Imaging Phenotypes. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2026 Feb 21. PMID: 41721747.
Published on 1/15/2026Kim W, Hu X, Kim K, Chun S, Orchard P, Qiao D, Ruczinski I, Saferali A, Aguet F, Antonacci-Fulton L, Balte PP, Bartz TM, Anamika WJ, Zhou X, Duan J, Brody JA, Cade BE, Daviglus ML, Doddapaneni H, Dugan-Perez S, Dutcher SK, Frazar CD, Gabriel SB, Gharib SA, Gupta N, Hobbs BD, Kasela S, Loehr LR, Metcalf GA, Muzny DM, Oelsner EC, Rasmussen-Torvik LJ, Sitlani CM, Smith J, Sofer T, Xu H, Yu B, Zhang D, Ziniti J, Barr RG, Carson AP, Fornage M, Hou L, Kalhan R, Kaplan R, Lappalainen T, London SJ, Morrison AC, O'Connor GT, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Redline S, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Silverman EK, Manichaikul A, Cho MH. Whole genome sequence analysis of pulmonary function and COPD in 44,287 multi-ancestry participants. Genome Biol. 2026 Jan 15; 27(1):28. PMID: 41535900.
Published on 12/20/2025Moore 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, Rivera-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 Dec 20; 232(6):e920-e930. PMID: 40795882.
Published on 9/27/2025Thompson D, Visness CM, Wood RA, O'Connor GT, Robison RG, Hershey GKK, Kercsmar CM, Chambliss J, Liu AH, Johnson C, Lovinsky-Desir S, Bacharier LB, Gern JE, Jackson DJ, Busse WW, Gergen PJ, Teach SJ, Rastogi D. Associations between body weight, asthma burden, and type 2 inflammation among under-resourced children. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2026 Jan; 136(1):66-74.e7. PMID: 41022283.
Published on 9/23/2025Gern JE, Schwartz J, Yee J, Bacharier L, Kattan M, O'Connor GT, Rivera-Spoljaric K, Wood RA, Calatroni A, Gergen P, Craven M. Immune development in urban children and its relationship to environmental exposures, allergic sensitization, and asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2026 Jan; 157(1):226-237. PMID: 40998211.
Published on 9/9/2025Dapas M, Wentworth-Sheilds W, Thompson EE, Kumar R, Lippner E, Wood RA, O'Connor GT, Khurana Hershey GK, Gruchalla RS, Liu AH, Zoratti EM, Bacharier LB, Lovinsky-Desir S, Gill MA, Sheehan WJ, Patel SJ, Altman MC, Gern JE, Visness CM, Gergen PJ, Becker PM, Jackson DJ, Ober C. Cumulative Genetic Risk for Asthma Contributes to Disease Severity in Children with Asthma living in Urban Environments. medRxiv. 2025 Sep 09. PMID: 40963756.
Published on 9/1/2025Altman 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.
Published on 7/30/2025Saw 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.
Published on 7/24/2025da 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 Nov; 156(5):1303-1313. PMID: 40714043.
Published on 7/22/2025Diaz 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.
Media Mentions
Published on 4/8/2024
Massachusetts-based Framingham Heart Study celebrates 75 years of research
Published on 9/28/2023
How one health study, inspired by FDR's death, changed life in America forever
Published on 9/28/2023
Olive Oil: The Key to Better Health According to Harvard Research
Published on 9/27/2023
Framingham Heart Study celebrates 75th anniversary
Published on 5/22/2023
Mucus Plugs in Airways of COPD Patients Linked to Higher Mortality
Published on 5/11/2022
COPD Screening for Asymptomatic Adults? USPSTF Weighs In, Again
Published on 5/10/2022
USPSTF finalizes recommendation against COPD screening in asymptomatic adults
Published on 12/7/2020
New asthma guidelines advise single maintenance and reliever therapy
Published on 12/3/2020
NHLBI Updates Asthma Tx Guidelines
Published on 2/21/2019
E-Cigarettes More Effective Than Nicotine-Replacement Therapy For Smoking-Cessation
View full list of 14 media mentions.