The Future Of Asthma Research

Asthma UK and the Royal Society of Medicine are offering people with asthma a unique opportunity to influence the future of asthma research.

Medicine and Me: Asthma Research will bring people with asthma, their families and carers, together with researchers and health professionals to exchange their views on the key challenges in basic asthma research.

The event aims to make science more accessible to people with asthma and ensure the strategy reflects their needs. It takes place on 19 February at the Royal Society of Medicine, London. Supported by AstraZeneca, it will include a mix of presentations and discussions, followed by an evening reception.

Medicine and Me: Asthma Research follows the hugely successful event, Medicine and Me: Asthma, which was held in 2004. It aims to provide a platform for Asthma UK to discuss its five-year Basic Asthma Research Strategy update (BARS II). The strategy was written after extensive consultation with expert asthma researchers and people with asthma over the last year and it is hoped this dialogue will have a direct impact on future research strategies.

The key areas identified in asthma research to be explored at the event are:

-- Genetics
-- Early Life and Environment
-- Immunology and Infection
-- Inflammation and Airway remodelling

People with asthma and researchers will discuss their views on how research can progress towards Asthma UK's vision of "control over asthma today, freedom from asthma tomorrow".

Donna Covey, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, said: "This is an excellent way to make medical science more accessible to people with asthma and help researchers understand the needs of people with asthma too. Asthma UK continues to increase the understanding of asthma, its causes and effects, and raise awareness of the needs of the 5.2 million people living with asthma."

Professor Tak Lee, Asthma UK Professor and Director of the MRC-Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, chaired the BARS II consultation on behalf of Asthma UK said: "The key questions that have to be addressed to find a cure for asthma have now been identified. It is essential for funders to provide adequate support to researchers so these critical questions can be answered."

http://www.asthma.org.uk