With a $55.8 million national research initiative, the University of Wisconsin took its place recently as a nation-wide captain in the fight against the leading cause of chronic illness in children.
The grant, awarded to the UW Medical School by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and a branch of the National Institute of Health, specifically seeks an explanation for higher rates of asthma found in urban populations.
One child in 15 suffers today from the effects of asthma, and the problem has been growing in recent years, most alarmingly among preschool-age children.
As a recipient of the sizable grant, UW joins the Inner-City Asthma Consortium. The group’s primary aims are to create clinical trials to test several new immune-based asthma treatments for inner-city youth, examine the efficacy of asthma treatments now in widespread use and research the genetic influences that affect one’s susceptibility to diseases like asthma. Funding is designated for six years of study.
Thompson indicated the momentous nature of the grant.
“The new contract reflects the department’s continuing commitment to addressing this health disparity,” he said, referring to the high rates of asthma found in urban youth as opposed to those who live in more rural areas. Thompson also alluded to some of the suspected culprits. “Inadequate access to health care and the best available asthma treatments is one of the reasons for higher rates of asthma and asthma-related deaths in inner-city children.”
According to the NIH, Madison will serve as the Inner-City Asthma Consortium’s flagship institution.
Renowned asthma researcher Dr. William Busse will work with associates to organize the clinical trials at a variety of sites around the country, including heavy hitters Johns Hopkins University and Mt. Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Christine Sorkness will also play a role in the coordination of the project. She was unavailable for comment.
Busse, who oversees the UW Medical School’s Asthma Allergy Clinical Research Center, echoed Thompson’s sentiment with regard to the importance and focus of the research.
“There is a surprising disparity in the prevalence of asthma for children who live in an inner-city environment,” Busse said.
He also explained that they are not only at much higher risk to initially contact the disease but “are also much more likely to develop a severe form of the disease.”
Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stressed the caliber of personnel as a determining factor in deciding the recipient of the grant.
“The researchers and institutions in this network are the cream of the crop of asthma investigators in this country,” he said. Fauci also said the consortium links a vast array of researchers and facilities with the study populations needed for progress.
Analyzing the mass of data generated in the study will be the task of Rho Federal Systems Inc. of Chapel Hill, N.C. The organization is charged with gathering and reviewing the study results from all eight national sites for final presentation.
The Department of Health and Human Services also points out that this study will not be out to discover “interventions” as a 1991 national study on asthma was. Rather, the consortium’s aim is to “identify promising new asthma medicines through the conduct of clinical trials.”
