The federal government recently awarded the UW-Madison Medical School $55.8 million to study high asthma levels among inner-city children. The study will focus on why the children have a higher risk of developing asthma in more severe forms than other youths.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases granted the award, possibly the largest grant ever given, to the UW Medical School.
The study will evaluate about 1,000 inner-city children to determine the effects of new immune-based and current treatments while looking at reasons why the prevalence of asthma within inner cities is rising.
Thompson cited lack of health care and adequate treatments as the main reasons why asthma levels are higher in inner-city neighborhoods.
\The new contract reflects the Department's continuing commitment to addressing this health disparity,"" said Thompson.
William W. Busse, director of the UW-Madison Medical School's Asthma Allergy Clinical Research Center said the program is pivotal to curbing asthma levels in the inner city.
""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,"" said Busse.
The UW-Madison Medical School will lead the project, named the Inner-City Asthma Consortium, by conducting clinical trials at eight major medical centers across the country. Clinical researchers, immunologists and experienced investigators from each establishment will be involved in the study.
