Pooling birth cohorts in allergy and asthma: European Union-funded initiatives - a MeDALL, CHICOS, ENRIECO, and GA²LEN joint paper

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pooling birth cohorts in allergy and asthma

T2 - European Union-funded initiatives - a MeDALL, CHICOS, ENRIECO, and GA²LEN joint paper

AU - Bousquet, Jean

AU - Anto, Josep

AU - Sunyer, Jordi

AU - Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark

AU - Vrijheid, Martine

AU - Keil, Thomas

AU - MeDALL Study Group

AU - Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

N1 - Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

PY - 2013

Y1 - 2013

N2 - Long-term birth cohort studies are essential to understanding the life course and childhood predictors of allergy and the complex interplay between genes and the environment (including lifestyle and socioeconomic determinants). Over 100 cohorts focusing on asthma and allergy have been initiated in the world over the past 30 years. Since 2004, several research initiatives funded under the EU Framework Program for Research and Technological Development FP6-FP7 have attempted to identify, compare, and evaluate pooling data from existing European birth cohorts (GA(2)LEN: Global Allergy and European Network, FP6; ENRIECO: Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts, FP7; CHICOS: Developing a Child Cohort Research Strategy for Europe, FP7; MeDALL: Mechanisms of the Development of ALLergy, FP7). However, there is a general lack of knowledge about these initiatives and their potentials. The aim of this paper is to review current and past EU-funded projects in order to make a summary of their goals and achievements and to suggest future research needs of these European birth cohort networks.

AB - Long-term birth cohort studies are essential to understanding the life course and childhood predictors of allergy and the complex interplay between genes and the environment (including lifestyle and socioeconomic determinants). Over 100 cohorts focusing on asthma and allergy have been initiated in the world over the past 30 years. Since 2004, several research initiatives funded under the EU Framework Program for Research and Technological Development FP6-FP7 have attempted to identify, compare, and evaluate pooling data from existing European birth cohorts (GA(2)LEN: Global Allergy and European Network, FP6; ENRIECO: Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts, FP7; CHICOS: Developing a Child Cohort Research Strategy for Europe, FP7; MeDALL: Mechanisms of the Development of ALLergy, FP7). However, there is a general lack of knowledge about these initiatives and their potentials. The aim of this paper is to review current and past EU-funded projects in order to make a summary of their goals and achievements and to suggest future research needs of these European birth cohort networks.

KW - Asthma

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Environmental Exposure

KW - Europe

KW - European Union

KW - Humans

KW - Hypersensitivity

KW - Longitudinal Studies

KW - Multicenter Studies as Topic

KW - Risk Factors

U2 - 10.1159/000343018

DO - 10.1159/000343018

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 23258290

SN - 1018-2438

VL - 161

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - International Archives of Allergy and Immunology

JF - International Archives of Allergy and Immunology

IS - 1

ER -