ABSTRACT
Dr Dweik is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, the American College of Chest Physicians, the Society of Critical Care Medicine, the American Heart Association, the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute and the American Thoracic Society. Dr Dweik earned his medical degree from the University of Jordan before moving to the USA for internal medicine training at Wright State University, followed by a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. First and foremost, are there any key leadership messages you want to get out to our readership? Tell us a little bit about your leadership role and how it is changing as a result of the pandemic? I lead the Respiratory Institute at the Cleveland Clinic which is home to pulmonary medicine, critical care, infectious diseases and allergy/immunology.
ABSTRACT
In contrast to blood and urine samples, breath is invisible and ubiquitous in the environment. Different precautions are now necessary beyond the usual 'Universal Precautions'. In the era of COVID-19, breath (especially the aerosol fraction) can no longer be considered as harmless in the clinic or laboratory. As Journal of Breath Research is a primary resource for breath-related research, we (the editors) are presently developing safety guidance applicable to all breath research , not just for those projects that involve known COVID-19 infected subjects. We are starting this process by implementing requirements on reporting safety precautions in research papers and notes. This editorial announces that authors of all new submissions to JBR henceforth must state clearly the procedures undertaken for assuring laboratory and clinical safety, much like the existing requirements for disclosing Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board protocols for studies on human subjects. In the following, we additionally make some recommendations based on best practices drawn from our experience and input from the JBR Editorial Board.