Why We Need Research
Asthma research helps us understand how the disease is caused, how it develops and how it is best treated. Research can also help us understand who is at high risk for developing asthma, certain triggers, and ways to avoid getting asthma.
Our Asthma Research Program
The American Lung Association is committed to funding asthma research. Our Awards and Grants Program funds top-notch researchers at important career crossroads to gain long-term commitment to lung health and disease research. Without the life-long dedication of lung researchers, important and much-needed discoveries would not be possible. In addition to the Awards and Grants Program, the Lung Association funds the Airways Clinical Research Centers (ACRC) Network, which implements patient-centered clinical trials, and has helped to change the nature of asthma patient care since its inception in 2000.
What Research Is Being Done?
Some of the current topics American Lung Association funded researchers are investigating include understanding the immune system’s role in asthma, using mobile technology to reach young African Americans with asthma, and better defining subtypes of asthma. Together, studies like these lead to improved therapy, quality of life, and access to care for all people with asthma.
Thanks to the medical breakthroughs led by Lung Association researchers and their colleagues, we have made significant contributions to improve our understanding of asthma.
Currently funded Lung Association researchers are:
- Using innovative approaches to understand the role of the immune system
- Studying asthma that is resistant to steroid treatments
- Boosting the immune system to reduce allergic inflammation in airways
- Deploying new technologies for decoding the genetic causes of asthma
- Understanding which genes are responsible for severe asthma
- Finding new genetic targets in lung tissue for new asthma therapy and prevention
- Analyzing policies to improve access to lifesaving asthma medication in schools
- Improve our understanding of the challenges in access to asthma medication in schools
- Evaluating asthma management policy in Chicago schools
- Providing asthma education to children in the hospital and at home
Asthma Clinical Trials
- See our Lung Association listing of current trials.
- View ACRC clinical trials that are currently recruiting as well as outcomes from completed studies.
Airways Clinical Research Centers (ACRC) Network
The ACRC is the nation's largest not-for-profit network of clinical research centers dedicated to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment research, attracting some of the best investigators nationwide. The ACRC Network conducts large clinical trials that will directly impact patient care for COPD and asthma.
Meet our Principal Investigators, see where our centers are located and learn more about some of the important research findings at Lung.org/acrc.
Page last updated: October 23, 2024
