Rocky Mountain Regional PDCEN

The Rocky Mountain Regional Post Deployment Cardiopulmonary Evaluation Network (RMR PDCEN) is located at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center (RMR VAMC). The RMR VAMC provides Veterans with outstanding health care, trains future health care providers, and conducts important medical research. In addition to the PDCEN, the RMR VAMC is home to one of eighteen national Health Service Research & Development Centers of Innovation (COIN) that promotes Veteran-centered care, improves the Veteran care experience, and advances care value.

The RMR PDCEN provides standardized and comprehensive clinical evaluations performed by VA physicians with expertise in pulmonary and occupational medicine for identified Veterans enrolled in the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pits Registry (AHOBPR). The mission of the RMR PDCEN, and all PDCEN sites, is to identify the relationship between airborne hazards and burn pit exposures and longer-term health outcomes and to identify possible treatments to improve care. The RMR PDCEN works collaboratively with the other PDCEN sites to develop new clinical guidelines to care for Veterans exposed to airborne hazards and burn pits.Watch the video below to hear more about the PDCEN from our site director, Dr. Silpa Krefft.

In addition to offering clinical care, the RMR PDCEN studies various topics related to Veterans' concerns about their post-deployment respiratory health, including deployment-related respiratory disease. Some of our collaborations and scholarly work include publications and research studies:

• Krefft SD, Rose C, Miller Y. Deployment-related Lung Disorders. Federal Practitioner. June 2015.
• 1 IK2 CX001779-01A1 (Principal Investigator: Krefft)
  Research Study Title: Clinical Markers and Monitoring for Post-9/11 Deployment Lung Diseases

RMR PDCEN Team

Silpa Krefft, MD, MPH, is a pulmonary and critical care physician and researcher specializing in occupational and environmental lung diseases. As the director of the RMR PDCEN, she oversees the clinical and research programs. She also works part-time at National Jewish Health in occupational lung disease research as part of a multidisciplinary team in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.

Alison Wilczynski, NP, is a clinician that specializes in pulmonary and post-deployment respiratory health and lung disease. She oversees PDCEN virtual consultations via video and telephone visits.

Arnav Gupta, MD, is a pulmonary and critical care physician who specializes in post-deployment respiratory health and lung disease. He also works at National Jewish Health where his research focuses on how environmental exposures such as particulate matter and silica cause lung disease and lung inflammation.

Rebecca Toczylowski, RN, oversees our post-deployment respiratory health clinical and research program. She coordinates clinics and serves as a patient navigator for veterans seeking evaluation at our PDCEN site.

Sheena Kamineni is a research coordinator and patient navigator for our post-deployment respiratory disease research program.