Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Individuals with allergic asthma that exhibit an immediate drop in lung function (measured through spirometry) that resolves 1-3 hours after allergen inhalation are called isolated early responders. In some allergic asthmatic individuals called dual responders, the early response is followed by a more severe late phase response. The early phase is characterized mainly through the narrowing of the airways whereas the late response is characterized by mucus hypersecretion, increased lung tissue permeability, and the infiltration of immune cells into the airways. Since it is the consequences of the late allergic response that are believed to contribute to chronic airway inflammation and uncontrolled disease it is important to identify molecular markers that can predict this fundamentally different response.