Find out more about ongoing research studies and collaborations that are examining the genetics of asthma. This is not a comprehensive listing.

• Asthma Clinical Research Network (ACRN)
  ACRN was established in 1993 by the Division of Lung Diseases, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. It is a multi-center group designed to conduct multiple studies of a single disease, namely, asthma.

• The Environmental Genome Project (EGP)
  The EGP, which was initiated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in 1998, aims to improve understanding of human genetic susceptibility to environmental exposures.

• Epidemiologic Study of the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA)
  The objective of EGEA is to assess genetic and environmental risk factors, and their interactions for asthma and the associated phenotypes of bronchial hyperresponsiveness and atopy.

• The Genetics of Asthma Research Study
  This research study, which is housed at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center, is currently recruiting subjects. The study is designed to evaluate the genetics involved in the development of lung disease by surveying genes involved in the process of breathing and examining the genes in lung cells of patients with lung disease.

• Genetics of Asthma in Latino Americans (GALA) Study
  The overall goal of the GALA study is to apply novel advances in genomics towards improving the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in medically underserved populations.

• The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)
  ISAAC was formed in 1991 to facilitate research into asthma, allergic rhinitis, and eczema by promoting a standardized methodology. The ISAAC project comprises three phases. The aims of Phase One were to describe the prevalence and severity of asthma, rhinitis and eczema in children in different centers; obtain baseline measures of prevalence and severity of these diseases; and provide a framework for further research. Phase Two, which consisted of more intensive studies in a smaller number of selected centers, was to describe the prevalence of 'objective' markers of asthma and allergies in children centers; assess the relation between the prevalence of 'objective' markers for these diseases and their symptoms; and estimate the variation in the prevalence and severity of diseases in relation to known or suspected risk factors or management. Phase Three, which uses the same research design as phase one, examines variations in time trends of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic eczema around the world, and assesses the relationship between patterns found and environmental data.

• The National Children’s Study
  The National Children’s Study will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21.

• Protection against allergy: Study in rural environments (PASTURE study)
  Funded by the National Public Health Institute, Finland, European Community, EVO grant, this study aims to evaluate whether endotoxin, mold, farming, or other possible factors in the home environment have an impact on the development of allergy or allergic Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in early childhood.

• The Southampton University Asthma Genetics Group (last accessed 2/2008)
  This group is an inter divisional research group that is part of the Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology Division and the Human Genetics Divisions of the Southampton University School of Medicine. The group recently has undertaken a collaborative project with Genome Therapeutics Corporation and Schering-Plough to identify novel asthma susceptibility genes.

• The Tucson Children’s Respiratory Study (TCRS)
  For more than two decades, researchers with TCRS have been collecting extensive data about the respiratory health of more than 1,000 infants.

• Duke University Medical Center and Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy collaboration
  This five-year program, funded by NIEHS, will use multiple approaches to uncover the underlying cellular and genetic mechanisms that contribute to environmental asthma. The program represents collaboration between Duke’s division of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine, and the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy.

• The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Asthma Genetics Group (last accessed 1/2008)
  This group, housed within the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, is currently working on asthma projects related to candidate gene studies, gene mapping, maternal effects and epigenetics, and genetic epidemiology.