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

The prevalence of childhood asthma has increased dramatically over recent decades. Asthma is a complex disease which depends on genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Environmental factors are likely to be important in explaining the increasing trend in asthma prevalence. Air pollution is well-known to exacerbate existing asthma but its role in the development of asthma is less clear. Research has shown that the development of childhood asthma is complex and may be related to both outdoor (e.g. traffic pollution) and indoor (e.g. allergens and endotoxins) air pollution. Combining these known and suspected air pollution sources is a much needed and key step in understanding the role of air pollution in the development of childhood asthma. The aim of the proposed study is to develop a measure of all exposures coming into contact with the human body via the respiratory route. Incorporating both outdoor and indoor sources will fill the gap for future studies of childhood asthma. We will be using the Canadian Health Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study. CHILD is a population-based birth-cohort national study of 5,000 children that collects information on environmental exposures over a five year period in four cities (Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto). We will be linking outdoor air pollution exposure concentrations, measured indoor pollutants, and housing characteristics to define children exposome which is the dynamic mapping of life-course environmental exposures from the prenatal period onwards. The exposure model will then be used to predict the risk of the development of childhood onset asthma. This risk assessment tool adds important information and has potential policy implications for managing the unrelenting increase of asthma.