17.02.2015 -
A group of cellular and molecular biologists, immunologists,
allergists, dermatologists, physicists, climate and air quality
experts and land use specialists joint their efforts in a
cross-disciplinary approach for the first time in Europe tackling
the connection between pollen-related allergies,
global and regional climate, air quality and land use and how to
meet the health and environmental challenges of invasive
alien species (IAS) invading Europe and other related
issues.
You are invited to join the Atopica team at their
conference and learn about the combined impact of changes
in climate, land use and air pollution on the highly invasive weed
Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) and its
consequences on health.
The Atopica conference will take place in Brussels, Belgium, at
the Committee of the Regions, with the consortium reporting
to journalists, policy makers, members of parliament and interested
citizens. The conference will be a two-day event featuring
talks by Atopica members, invited speakers and will include
workshops, posters and round table sessions.
Registration is now open on www.atopica.eu/conference
. Registration and attendance for the conference are
free!
The final program is coming soon.
About Atopica
Ambrosia artemisiifolia, also known as common ragweed, is an
annual herbaceous plant that originates in North America and began
to spread in Europe after 1940. Currently, the pace at
which Ambrosia is spreading is on the rise with a concomitant rise
in allergy.
«Climate change foreseen for the next several decades of the
21st century over the European region will likely increase the
spread of invasive plants like Ambrosia» says the project
leader, Dr. Michelle Epstein of the Medical University of Vienna,
talking about one of the main project findings. Together with
Epstein, experts from seven different EU Countries (Austria,
France, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Croatia) are
partners in the project.
Atopica has integrated quantitative physical and
statistical models of climate and air quality with clinical data
from paediatric and geriatric clinical cohorts. The
Italian partners are the Università Vita-Salute San
Raffaele from Milano, with Dejan Lazarevic's group
involved in the molecular characterization of the cohorts and, both
from Trieste, the Abdus Salam International Centre for
Theoretical Physics (Ictp), with Filippo Giorgi's team
studying climate change, and for project dissemination
Promoscience Srl, a dynamic SME based in AREA
Science Park.
«There is an urgent need for awareness of
ragweed in addition to sustainable strategies to control and reduce
its spread with the intention of health and well-being of
Europeans» Epstein concludes inviting all to join the meeting
in Brussels.