Researchers to Study Drivers of Asthma in Puerto Rico NIH UO1 Awarded September 2018
As of 2016, nearly 40% (37.7 %) Puerto Ricans have ever had asthma and the death rate from asthma is more than four times higher among Puerto Ricans than among non-Hispanic whites. To understand why the rate of asthma is far higher in Puerto Ricans than other Americans, physicians and scientists from University of San Francisco in California, National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado and Dr. Jose Rodriguez-Santana of Centro de Neumología Pediátrica in Puerto Rico will collaborate in an investigation with support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The team plans to follow Puerto Rican children from birth through early childhood to study how genes and viral infections affect respiratory disease. This will be the largest minority birth cohort ever in the U.S.
