Peggy Lai, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Medicine
Areas of Expertise: Investigation
Academic Interests
Dr. Lai’s research group (lai-lab.com) focuses on research at the intersection of environmental exposures, the microbiome, and chronic lung disease. Her lab works collaboratively on both U.S. based and global projects spanning the spectrum of translational research, observational studies, and randomized clinical trials. Dr. Lai’s primary appointment is within the Division or Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at MGH. She has secondary appointments in the Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit within the Mongan Institute at MGH, the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Awards and Recognition
David Bates Award, Assembly of Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, American Thoracic Society (2014)
Academic Editor, PLOS One (2018 -)
Guest Editor, Clinics in Chest Medicine (2019)
Co-chair, Early Career Working Group, Assembly of Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, American Thoracic Society (2017 – 2019)
Chair, Planning Committee, Assembly of Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, American Thoracic Society (2020 – 2022)
Chair elect, Program Committee, Assembly of Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health, American Thoracic Society (2022 -)
Co-chair, International Health Committee International Conference and Education Working Group (2022 - )
Fellow of the American Thoracic Society (2020)
Nominee, Brian A. McGovern Award for Clinical Excellence, MGH (2019)
Nominee, Harvard Medical School Mentoring Award (2021)
Award for Excellence in Resident Scholarship Mentoring, MGH Department of Medicine (2022)
Early Career Achievement Award, American Thoracic Society, Assembly on Environmental, Occupational, and Population Health (2022)
A full list of Dr. Lai's published work can be found on My Bibliography.
More information can be found on Dr. Lai's Harvard Catalyst Profile.
+Current Projects
- The school microbiome and asthma morbidity in inner-city children (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02291302)
- Solar lighting intervention trial to reduce household air pollution in rural Uganda (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03351504)
- One health: Transmission of microbes and antimicrobial resistance genes between humans and chickens. A randomized controlled trial of small-scale chicken farms in rural Uganda (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02619227)
- Supplemental oxygen and the airway microbiome in people living with cystic fibrosis
- Critically ill patients with COVID-19