UW gets $55.8 million to study inner-city asthma

Why are children who live in inner-city environments much more likely to develop severe asthma then children who do not live in urban settings? The UW Medical School’s Asthma Allergy Clinical Research Center hopes to find answers with a new, nationwide, $55.8 million research initiative.

US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded UW Medical School a $55.8 million contract to establish and lead a nationwide clinical research network to find answers to what medical experts call an asthma epidemic for inner-city children.

“There is surprising disparity in the prevalence of asthma for children who live in an inner-city environment,” said Willam W. Busse, who directs the UW Medical School’s Asthma Allergy Clinical Research Center. “Inner-city children are not only at much higher risk to develop asthma, but they are also much more likely to develop a severe form of the disease. We hope that this research will get to the root of what is happening to these children by developing a better understanding of the biological and environmental mechanisms underlying development of the disease.”

The research network, termed the Inner-City Asthma Consortium, will conduct clinical trials to evaluate promising immune-based asthma treatments in inner-city children. Currently available asthma treatments may also be tested to make sure they are put to their best use in this population. Finally, the consortium will investigate the natural history of asthma in inner-city children.

“Inadequate access to health care and lack of the best available asthma treatments are two of the reasons that asthma is a more serious problem in inner-city children and that more asthma-related deaths occur in this group,” said Secretary Thompson. “The new contract reflects the Department’s continuing commitment to addressing this health disparity.”

The Medical School will develop and lead the research network. Busse and his colleagues will coordinate the clinical trials and associated studies, which will occur at eight sites across the country. The list of sites follows:

• Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
• Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois
• Howard University, Washington, D.C.
• Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
• Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York
• National Jewish Medical Center, Denver, Colorado
• University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas

“The researchers and institutions in this network are among the top tier of asthma investigators in this country,” said Anthony S. Fauci, NIAID director. “This program combines the skills of investigators experienced in working with inner-city children with asthma, the availability of a pediatric population that may benefit greatly from improved therapy, and the talents of many basic immunologists and clinical researchers.”

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.