Jonathan M. Gaffin, MD
Boston Children's Hospital
Research Project:
Residential Radon, Socioeconomic Opportunity, and Respiratory Outcomes in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
Grant Awarded:
- Innovation Award
Research Topics:
- air pollution
- clinical research
- epidemiology
- risk factors
Research Diseases:
- asthma
- bronchopulmonary dysplasia
- interstitial lung disease
Children born prematurely with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), or chronic lung disease of prematurity, have among the highest rates of asthma and are at high risk of impaired lung function at school age. Yet, risk factors for these outcomes are poorly understood. We will identify the role of residential radon, an environmental contaminant recently associated with asthma and airway inflammation in children, and socioeconomic opportunity in the development of asthma and lung function impairment in children with BPD. The research will utilize state-of-the-art geospatial tools to identify risk by neighborhood among a cohort of well-characterized school-age children with BPD. Results from this study will create a foundation for environmental, community- and policy-level interventions to improve lung health in children at high risk for poor respiratory health.
Update:
Over the first year, we have completed study enrollment and developed exposure models to evaluate residential radon and socioeconomic opportunity for use to determine health outcomes. Home addresses from over 150 children with BPD, with time periods from birth to school-age, the time of enrollment, have been geocoded. These have been linked to residential radon and Childhood Opportunity Index values, the primary measure of socioeconomic disadvantage, for use in health outcome analyses. These research activities leave us poised to complete the analysis of exposures on concurrent asthma and lung function in this high-risk cohort of children.
Supported by the Mary Fuller Russell Fund
Page last updated: September 17, 2024
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