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Daniel Croft, M.D., M.P.H.

Contact Information

Phone Numbers

Appointment: (585) 486-0147

Office: (585) 275-4161

URMFGA member of the University of Rochester Medical Faculty Group

groupAn Accountable Health Partner

assignmentAccepting New Patients

Faculty Appointments

Patient Care Settings

Hospital Medicine, Pulmonary

Biography

My two main goals are to improve the health of individual patients and improve the health of populations through research on air pollution and inhaled toxins.

In addition to treating patients with general pulmonary disease in my outpatient clinic at the Mary Parkes Center for Asthma, Allergy & Pulmonary Care, I have a special interest in occupational lung disease. Under expert mentorship from Dr. Mark Utell and colleagues, I have developed expertise in the diagnosis and management of disorders caused by inhaled toxins that injure people both at home and in the workplace. This includes my efforts to help patients quit smoking and other inhaled toxins.
My work in the medical intensive care unit (ICU) in the University of Rochester Medical Center involves caring for critically ill patients in the hospital.

My primary research focus is on the pulmonary health effects of air pollution. I am currently completing a NIH funded career development project focused on the contribution of air pollution to the susceptibility of individuals suffering from respiratory viral infections. I also am involved in translational research on indoor air pollution and on other inhaled toxins including electronic nicotine delivery systems (vaping).

Professional Background

I grew up in the Midwest, completing my undergraduate and medical school training at Indiana University. While in medical school I completed a Master's in Public Health in public health policy and management. After completing multiple public health policy projects in the U.S. and abroad, I started my internal medicine training at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. At Dartmouth, I started investigating improved health care delivery methods with health policy experts at The Dartmouth Institute. I then moved to Rochester in 2014 to begin my fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine. During my fellowship supported by a NIH T32 training grant, and subsequent transition to the faculty at URMC, I have continued my work as a clinician researcher studying the respiratory health effects of inhaled toxins.

Research

My primary area of research is my K23 funded epidemiology work on the effect of air pollution on the transcriptomics of the immune response to respiratory viral infection in adults. In this broad study, we will apply multiple exposure methods including land use regression and source specific estimation to a population of patients hospitalized with viral, bacterial or combined infection. This study is continuing through the pandemic and will also separately analyze a population of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Both the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division and the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) have a long history of research in the areas of inhalation toxicology, environmental health, environmental epidemiology, and air pollution health effects. As a member of the Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC), I collaborate with colleagues on other projects involving the cardiopulmonary health effects of air pollution. Specifically, our team recently completed a pilot trial of indoor air cleaning to prevent COPD exacerbations in adults. I am continuing to build my expertise in the respiratory effects of both outdoor and indoor air pollution.

Within the broader inhalation toxicology world, I am also one of the investigators in the Western New York Center for Research on Flavored Tobacco Products (CRoFT), which includes research on e-cigarettes. I serve as the clinical oversight for Project 2 which, in part, focuses on the topography of E-cigarette use.

Credentials

Specialties

    Education

    2011
    MPH | Richard M Fairbanks School of Public Health

    Post-doctoral Training & Residency

    07/01/2014 - 06/30/2017
    Fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Rochester Medical Center

    07/01/2012 - 06/15/2014
    Residency in Internal Medicine at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital

    06/24/2011 - 07/01/2012
    Internship in Internal Medicine at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital

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    Awards

    2018
    David Bates Award for outstanding contribution to the field of Environmental, Occupational and Population Health
    Sponsor: American Thoracic Society (EOPH Assembly)

    2017
    Abstract scholarship: Effect Modification by Differing Omega-6 and Omega-3 Ratios on Systemic Inflammation from Air Pollution
    Sponsor: American Thoracic Society (EOPH Assembly)
    Location: Washington, DC

    2016
    Abstract scholarship: Ambient Wood Smoke and Other Particulate Pollutants and Changes in Biomarkers of Systemic Inflammation...
    Sponsor: American Thoracic Society (EOPH Assembly)
    Location: San Francisco, CA

    2015 - 2016
    Strong Star Certificates of Appreciation
    Sponsor: University of Rochester Medical Center

    2015
    Fellow Teaching Award Finalist
    Sponsor: Department of Medicine
    Location: University of Rochester Medical Center

    2010
    Verne K. and Gladys Osborn Harvey Scholarship
    Sponsor: Indiana University School of Medicine
    Location: Indianapolis, IN

    2006
    Honors in Biology
    Sponsor: Indiana University
    Location: Bloomington, IN

    2006
    Guidant Life Sciences Scholarship
    Sponsor: Guidant Corporation
    Location: Indiana University, Bloomington

    2005
    Capstone Grant for Research
    Sponsor: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
    Location: Bloomington, IN

    2005
    Rex Grossman Award in Biology
    Sponsor: Indiana University
    Location: Bloomington, IN

    2004 - 2006
    Fernandus and Elizabeth Payne Scholarship
    Sponsor: Indiana University
    Location: Bloomington, IN

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    Publications

    Journal Articles

    12/5/2022
    Croft DP, Utell MJ, Rich DQ. "Can Long-Term Residential Air Cleaning Reduce Cardiovascular Morbidity in COPD Patients?" American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine.. 2022 Dec 5; Epub 2022 Dec 05.

    2/28/2022
    McGraw MD, Croft DP, Nacca NE, Rahman I. "Reduced Plasma Phosphatidylethanolamines in E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)." Pediatric pulmonology.. 2022 Feb 28; Epub 2022 Feb 28.

    11/30/2021
    Peterson DR, Baran AM, Bhattacharya S, Branche AR, Croft DP, Corbett AM, Walsh EE, Falsey AR, Mariani TJ. "Gene Expression Risk Scores for COVID-19 Illness Severity." The Journal of infectious diseases.. 2021 Nov 30; Epub 2021 Nov 30.

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