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• Asthma

  Asthma

  Asthma is a long-term (chronic) lung disease. The airways react to triggers (allergens and irritants). This makes it hard to breathe. With exposure to triggers, these changes make the airways narrow. It is hard for air to go out of the lungs. And fresh oxygen can't get into the body.
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• Bronchitis

  Chronic Bronchitis

  Chronic bronchitis is long-term inflammation of the breathing tubes (bronchi). It is common among smokers. People with chronic bronchitis tend to get lung infections more easily. They also have episodes of acute bronchitis, when symptoms are worse.
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• Chest Pain

  Angina Pectoris

  Angina pectoris (or simply angina) is chest pain or discomfort that keeps coming back. It happens when some part of your heart doesn't get enough blood and oxygen. Angina can be a symptom of coronary artery disease (CAD).
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• Chronic Cough

  Chronic Bronchitis

  Chronic bronchitis is long-term inflammation of the breathing tubes (bronchi). It is common among smokers. People with chronic bronchitis tend to get lung infections more easily. They also have episodes of acute bronchitis, when symptoms are worse.
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• Exercise-Induced Asthma

  Asthma and Exercise

  For some, exercise, and other things, cause asthma symptoms. For others, asthma symptoms only happen with exercise or physical activity. In either case, the term to describe the condition is exercise-induced bronchoconstriction or EIB. (It used to be called exercise-induced asthma.) It means that exercise causes the airways or bronchi to narrow or constrict.
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• Frequent Pneumonia

  Pneumonia

  Pneumonia is an infection of one or both of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or chemical irritants. It is a serious infection or inflammation in which the air sacs fill with pus and other liquid.
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• Reactive Airway Disease (RAD)

• Link to Dr. Okelo's PubMed publications
• Download Dr. Okelo's publication/Bibliography (PDF)

Selected Publications

1. A Clinical-Decision Instrument Improves Assessment of Asthma Disease Status in Pediatric Emergency Department Patients Goldberg EM, Laskowski-Kos U, Wu D, Gutierrez J, Bilderback A, Okelo SO, Garro A. J Asthma, Dec. 4, 2013
2. Pediatrician Qualifications and Asthma Management Behaviors and their Association with Patient Race/Ethnicity Okelo SO, Riekert KA, Eakin M, Bilderback A, Rand CS, Diette GB, Yenokyan G. J Asthma, 2014 Mar;51(2):155-61
3. Validation of Parental Reports of Asthma Trajectory, Burden and Risk Using the Pediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument Okelo SO, Eakin MN, Riekert KA, Teodoro A, Bilderback AL, Thompson D, Loiaiza-Martinez A, Rand CS, Diette GB, Patino CM. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2014 Mar-Apr;2(2):186-192.e7.
4. Asthma Treatment Decisions by Pediatric Residents Do Not Consistently Conform to Guidelines nor Improve with Level of Training? SO Okelo, GK Siberry, BS Solomon, M Yamazaki, T Hetzler, C Ferrell, N Dhepyasuwan, JR Serwint for the CORNET Investigators. Academic Pediatrics, March 11, 2014
5. Pediatricians' perceptions of family socioeconomic status in asthma care SB Johnson, BJ Gordon, JM. Jennings, MH. Bair-Merritt, NE. Adler, SO Okelo. Pediatr Allergy Immunol Pulmonol. 2014 Sep 1;27(3):120-125.
6. Asthma identification and Medication Administration Forms in New York City Schools Reznik M, Bauman LJ, Okelo SO, Halterman JS. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2015 Jan;114(1):67-68.e1.
7. Differences in spirometry values between US children 6-11 years and adolescents 12-19 years with current asthma, 2007-2010. Kit BK, Simon AE, Tilert T, Okelo S, Akinbami LJ. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015 Jul 7
8. Racial Disparities in Asthma Morbidity Among Pediatric Patients Seeking Asthma Specialist Care. SJ Mitchell, AL Bilderback, SO Okelo. Acad Pediatr. 2015 Aug 29. pii: S1876-2859.
9. Predicting Future Emergency Department Visits and Hospitalizations for Asthma using the Pediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument - Emergency Department Version (PACCI-ED) DJ Wu, E Hipolito, AL Bilderback, SO Okelo, A Garro. J Asthma. Accepted Oct. 28, 2015

Interviews

• Symposium Focuses on Raising Asthma Awareness, (Bakersfieldnow.com) May 27th, 2015
• Canadian Television Interview - Dr. Sande Okelo, July 7, 2008
• WJZ Baltimore Interview: Some Children May be Overmedicated for Asthma - Dr. Sande Okelo, August 12, 2008
• The Joe Madison Show, Sirius XM 128, "Do asthma morbidity disparities exist between black and white children referred to asthma specialist care?" June 9, 2011
• Air Pollution is Making Us Sick (Momscleanairforce.org) June 30, 2011
• Asthma Among African-American Kids & What Moms Can Do, (Blogtalkradio.com) June 27, 2011

Honors and Special Awards

• Top Doctors, Los Angeles Magazine, 2021
• NIH K23 Career Development Award, 2008 – 2013
• National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Award, recipient, 2009 – 2011
• National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Award, recipient, 2001 – 2004
• Summer Research Fellow, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 1994 – 1996

Research Grants and Fellowships Received

• ATS Foundation/Breathe California of LA Research Grant, 2016 – 2018
• Reducing Asthma Morbidity in High Risk Minority Preschool Children, NHLBI, $560,510. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a home-based asthma education intervention with demonstrated efficacy, when delivered in the context of a Head Start–wide asthma education program. - 2011
• Standardization of Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies for Bottled-fed Children, NIDCD, $278,706. The purpose of this project is to test a new standardize method of translating the x-ray findings into meaningful clinical information that improves the accuracy of swallowing diagnosis and guides swallowing treatment. - 2011
• A+ Head Start Intervention for Smoke Free Homes, NHLBI, $492,044, 2008 – 2013 The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of an ETS reduction intervention with demonstrated efficacy, when delivered in the context of an overall EPA-based Head Start ETS reduction education program. NHLBI - 2008
• K23 Career Development Award, Development of a Pediatric Asthma Control and Communication Instrument, NHLBI, Principal Investigator, $662,258, 2008 - 2013. The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an asthma decision-support Tool designed to improve communication with parents of high-risk children with asthma. - 2008
• Thrasher Research Fund, The role of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infection in asthmatic exacerbations in pediatric patients, 2007 – 2009. The purpose of this case-control study is to compare children with asthma exacerbations with a group of age-matched control asthmatic children with signs and symptoms of upper respiratory infection in the absence of wheezing in order to determine the role of hMPV in pediatric asthma exacerbations. - 2007
• Minority Investigator Research Supplement, Improving Asthma Care for Minority Children in Head Start, NHLBI, 2006 – 2008. The purpose of this study is to survey pediatricians to assess how their attitudes towards interventions designed to improve shared decision-making among low income inner-city parents of minority children with asthma. - 2006
• Minority Postdoctoral Supplement, NIEHS, 2002 – 2003. The purpose of this study is to evaluate racial differences in coronary artery disease and treatment recommendations in a Veterans Administration patient population. - 2002

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