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The Atopica project aims at studying the diffusion of an invasive and highly allergenic type of plant called Ambrosia 

Climate change and allergies: a European team assessing health risks


12.10.2011 -

Its name is Atopica (Atopic diseases in changing climate, land use and air quality) and it is a three-year project focussing on the impact that climate and environmental changes are having on the spreading of pathologies known as "atopic" such as allergies, asthma and eczema. Funded by the European Commission within the EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, the project will have its kick-off meeting in Vienna on October 17th and 18th 2011.

 

Atopica will use an interdisciplinary approach to study how global and local climate evolutions, land use and air quality changes have an impact on human health. In particular, the project investigates the effects that the spreading of an invasive and highly allergenic plant called ragweed or Ambrosia (Latin: artemisiifolia L.) is having in Europe, assessing the health risks particularly in vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children, with the intention to create policies tailored to meet their needs also thanks to the continuous dialogue with stakeholders and society (mass media, politicians, patients' associations, professional medical organisations, authorities for national and local regulations).

 

"We will study vulnerable groups of atopic patients and search for predictive biomarkers and establish statistical models of disease response to pollen for assessing future trends and risks," says the project leader, Dr Michelle Epstein of the Medical University of Vienna. At the end of the three years, the Consortium will be able to deliver an unprecedented detailed pan-European fully integrated quantitative analysis of climate, air quality, and aeroallergens over the past 20 years.

 

According to Dr Epstein, "With clear evidence for current and future global and regional climate, land use and air quality change, it is crucial to improve our understanding of how these environmental changes will impact human health. There is an urgent need for early detection and preventive management initiatives; decisions and policies regarding these strategies need to be based on cost-benefit ratios especially in the context of the effects on health and health care costs".

 

The international Atopica team includes a combination of cellular and molecular biologists, immunologists, allergists, dermatologists, physicists, climate and air quality experts and also land use specialists from Austria, France, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Croatia.

 

Two partners are based in Italy: the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Abdus Salam in Trieste - contributing to the scientific part - and Promoscience srl, specialized in the development and implementation of strategies to enhance and maximize the dissemination of the scientific results. Promoscience, located in the AREA Science Park of Trieste, will be in charge of fostering a continuous dialogue with the various stakeholders and of the dissemination of the project results with the support of a Content & Project Management System tool called NetScience, purposely created by Promoscience to be used in a scientific context.

 

Partners of the Atopica Consortium are: the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Dječja Bolnica Srebrnjak, Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques, Medizinische Universitaet Wien - project coordinator, Moverim Consulting, Promoscience srl, Rothamsted Research, Universitaet Ulm, University of East Anglia

 

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