IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic is an award-winning pediatric asthma program in Washington, D.C., dedicated to improving asthma care and outcomes for children through clinical care, education, research and advocacy.
A disproportionately high number of children suffer from asthma in the District of Columbia. IMPACT DC’s mission is to lessen the need for emergency room visits and hospital stays by educating patients and families about ways to manage the condition, and connecting them with valuable resources in their local community.
The heart of the program is the IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic. The clinic sees children who have recently been to the emergency room, were hospitalized for asthma or who generally have trouble controlling their asthma.
When you and your child visit the clinic, our team of asthma educators and clinicians will provide a detailed medical consultation and unique care plan for your child. We then communicate and coordinate care with your child’s primary care provider, school nurse and others involved in your child’s asthma care.
IMPACT DC asthma educators provide individualized education about the disease and medications, while showing children and families how to best use inhalers and other devices. We also explain how to identify and reduce exposure to allergens or other triggers that may cause asthma symptoms.
The ORBEX Study is a three-year study that aims to see if a medication can help prevent wheezing in young children.
Watch as patients and families affected by asthma discuss how the Impact DC program helps minimize triggers and improve quality of life.
We believe that community education is valuable to bring high quality care and education beyond the hospital and clinic walls. IMPACT DC staff participates throughout the year in community outreach, providing information and education through health fairs, school-based programs and other educational and advocacy events. For more information on these activities, visit our outreach homepage.
Other program goals are to understand why so many children have asthma and to ultimately reduce the number of children that suffer from the disease. Since 2001, we have monitored pediatric asthma visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations within the District of Columbia. A report with the most recent data from 2002-2011 is available online, along with additional information on current IMPACT DC research activities.
IMPACT DC serves as one of eight sites of the Inner City Asthma Consortium (ICAC), funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The Consortium’s participating sites across the country study the effectiveness of asthma therapies in children and young adults.
Our team also works closely with colleagues from the Center for Genetic Medicine Research, the Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health, other Children’s National divisions and community organizations.
In 2014 IMPACT DC received funding from PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) for a study titled Improving Asthma Outcomes through Stress Management. This study has been featured on the Children’s National Innovation District, and published in the December 2016 issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
For more information about IMPACT DC, please contact us at 202-476-3970 or email impactdc@childrensnational.org. If you need to fax documents over, please use 202-476-2126.
After Joshua and Sandra Sweek noticed that their 6-month-old son, Noah, was having breathing problems, they took him to the doctor. There, the baby was diagnosed with suspected asthma.
Stephen Teach Director and Principal Investigator, IMPACT DCAssociate Dean, Pediatric Academic AffairsChair, Department of Pediatrics
Ankoor Shah Medical Director, IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic
Amaziah Coleman Allergist
Shilpa Patel Associate Medical Director, IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic Emergency Medicine Specialist
Jeremy Kern Pediatric Residency Associate Program Director, Hospitalist Division Hospitalist
Amina Khan Hospitalist
Nia Bodrick Community Pediatrician
Candice Dawes Assistant Medical Director
Eduardo Fox Pediatrician
Ellen Hamburger Medical Director, Children’s Pediatricians and Associates Pediatrician
Mansi Kotwal Clinical Associate
Dinesh Pillai Co-Director, Severe Asthma ClinicInvestigator, Center for Genetic Medicine ResearchPulmonologist
Children’s Law Center and Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia (IMPACT DC) have been selected by a coalition of 12 funding organizations to participate in the BUILD Health Challenge, a national program that leverages multi-sector community partnerships in order to improve health for everyone.