> Respiratory research attracts $12 million
Respiratory research attracts $12 million
June 6, 2008
In an effort to intensify research on what is causing an exponential increase in childhood asthma and allergies, two national research-funding agencies are investing $12 million in a cross-Canada exploration of the respiratory illnesses.
In the last 30 years the number of children aged five to 18 years suffering from asthma and allergies has doubled in the general population. Among low-income families the number has quadrupled.
Tim Takaro and Ryan Allen in Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences are among almost 40 university researchers nationally involved in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study. The study is directed by Dr Malcolm Sears, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and funded primarily by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and AllerGen NCE Inc., the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network.
Takaro is a physician-scientist in occupational health and Allen is an assistant professor in exposure science. They and their colleagues in the CHILD study are investigating how genetic predisposition, immune system development, personal characteristics and environmental factors are potentially coming together to increase the occurrence of asthma and allergies.
“We’re finding out that many factors converge to determine which genes get turned on and off in the human body,” explains Takaro. “Through environmental assessments, genetic testing, monitoring physiological development from birth and other studies, we hope to identify interactions that trigger the activation of genes and consequently the development and inheritance of asthma and allergies.”
Researchers in the CHILD study will follow for five years the growth and the development of the immune and respiratory systems of babies born to 5,000 women recruited from the general population in four centres. They are Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto.
The study will not only help health professionals develop strategies for mitigating the increasing occurrence of childhood asthma and allergies but also for tracking how parental health contributes to children’s development of these illnesses.
This study will create a powerful database of biological and environmental samples and records that will be applied to unraveling how multiple factors coincide to cause other chronic illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes.
— 30 — (digital photo available on request)
In the last 30 years the number of children aged five to 18 years suffering from asthma and allergies has doubled in the general population. Among low-income families the number has quadrupled.
Tim Takaro and Ryan Allen in Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences are among almost 40 university researchers nationally involved in the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study. The study is directed by Dr Malcolm Sears, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, and funded primarily by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and AllerGen NCE Inc., the Allergy, Genes and Environment Network.
Takaro is a physician-scientist in occupational health and Allen is an assistant professor in exposure science. They and their colleagues in the CHILD study are investigating how genetic predisposition, immune system development, personal characteristics and environmental factors are potentially coming together to increase the occurrence of asthma and allergies.
“We’re finding out that many factors converge to determine which genes get turned on and off in the human body,” explains Takaro. “Through environmental assessments, genetic testing, monitoring physiological development from birth and other studies, we hope to identify interactions that trigger the activation of genes and consequently the development and inheritance of asthma and allergies.”
Researchers in the CHILD study will follow for five years the growth and the development of the immune and respiratory systems of babies born to 5,000 women recruited from the general population in four centres. They are Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto.
The study will not only help health professionals develop strategies for mitigating the increasing occurrence of childhood asthma and allergies but also for tracking how parental health contributes to children’s development of these illnesses.
This study will create a powerful database of biological and environmental samples and records that will be applied to unraveling how multiple factors coincide to cause other chronic illnesses, such as cancer and diabetes.
— 30 — (digital photo available on request)
Background: Respiratory research attracts $12 million
This study aims to clarify whether patterns of allergic reactions, airway inflammation and lung function abnormalities in infancy can be identified as predictors of asthma in later life. Researchers also hope to clarify the effects of exposure to many indoor and outdoor pollutants in combination with developing asthma and allergies. To date there has been little study of this, especially in infants.
CHILD study infants will be studied at birth, at a home visit at 3 months, and at clinic visits at ages 1, 3 and 5 years (through telephone questionnaires sent to parents at 6 and 9 months, 1½, 2, 2½ and 4 years). Questionnaires, home assessments and dust sampling will be used to assess the impact of indoor and outdoor environmental exposures.
In addition to studying the genetic and immunological makeup of the children and their parents, researchers will monitor the children’s pulmonary function, airway inflammation, nutrition and susceptibility to infections over five years. The first year of life will be a critical window of study, as many factors influence the immune system’s development during this period.
Tim Takaro co-directs the environmental assessment component of the study. He and his colleagues are designing questionnaires aimed at evaluating the home environment and activity of subjects. He is also overseeing the collection and evaluation of data from several types of environmental assessments, including home inspections and dust collection. Training of home inspectors and quality control of the environmental data are key aspects of his responsibility. Takaro recently helped establish that living in an environmentally friendly home can be as good as medicine for asthma, and even cure the potentially deadly illness.
Ryan Allen is involved in the exposure assessment team, with particular focus on the impact of outdoor pollutants on indoor air. This will include the development of models for estimating outdoor traffic pollution concentrations and assessing the movement of pollution indoors using indoor dust measurements and questionnaire data.
Stuart Turvey is a clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute and a pediatric immunologist and rheumatologist at BC Children’s Hospital, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. An expert in pediatric allergy and immunology, Turvey will lead the Vancouver CHILD team and direct investigation of the role of innate immunity and infections in the development of asthma and allergies.
Malcolm Sears, a professor of medicine at McMaster University, is the principal investigator in this study. He has directed the asthma/allergy component of the Dunedin longitudinal birth cohort study in New Zealand for more than 25 years and is now a senior advisor to the study. Sears has extensive expertise in studying the natural history of childhood asthma. His primary roles in this project involve planning the study, grant applications, integration and coordination of the diverse needs of multi-disciplinary research teams and facilitating the work of site leaders in regional centres.
This study aims to clarify whether patterns of allergic reactions, airway inflammation and lung function abnormalities in infancy can be identified as predictors of asthma in later life. Researchers also hope to clarify the effects of exposure to many indoor and outdoor pollutants in combination with developing asthma and allergies. To date there has been little study of this, especially in infants.
CHILD study infants will be studied at birth, at a home visit at 3 months, and at clinic visits at ages 1, 3 and 5 years (through telephone questionnaires sent to parents at 6 and 9 months, 1½, 2, 2½ and 4 years). Questionnaires, home assessments and dust sampling will be used to assess the impact of indoor and outdoor environmental exposures.
In addition to studying the genetic and immunological makeup of the children and their parents, researchers will monitor the children’s pulmonary function, airway inflammation, nutrition and susceptibility to infections over five years. The first year of life will be a critical window of study, as many factors influence the immune system’s development during this period.
Tim Takaro co-directs the environmental assessment component of the study. He and his colleagues are designing questionnaires aimed at evaluating the home environment and activity of subjects. He is also overseeing the collection and evaluation of data from several types of environmental assessments, including home inspections and dust collection. Training of home inspectors and quality control of the environmental data are key aspects of his responsibility. Takaro recently helped establish that living in an environmentally friendly home can be as good as medicine for asthma, and even cure the potentially deadly illness.
Ryan Allen is involved in the exposure assessment team, with particular focus on the impact of outdoor pollutants on indoor air. This will include the development of models for estimating outdoor traffic pollution concentrations and assessing the movement of pollution indoors using indoor dust measurements and questionnaire data.
Stuart Turvey is a clinician scientist at the Child & Family Research Institute and a pediatric immunologist and rheumatologist at BC Children’s Hospital, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. He is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia. An expert in pediatric allergy and immunology, Turvey will lead the Vancouver CHILD team and direct investigation of the role of innate immunity and infections in the development of asthma and allergies.
Malcolm Sears, a professor of medicine at McMaster University, is the principal investigator in this study. He has directed the asthma/allergy component of the Dunedin longitudinal birth cohort study in New Zealand for more than 25 years and is now a senior advisor to the study. Sears has extensive expertise in studying the natural history of childhood asthma. His primary roles in this project involve planning the study, grant applications, integration and coordination of the diverse needs of multi-disciplinary research teams and facilitating the work of site leaders in regional centres.