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