Two birth cohort studies recruiting volunteers

Researchers in the Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology are recruiting families for two new birth cohort studies funded by the National Institutes of Health. The studies’ investigators include Anne Marie Singh, MD, associate professor, Jim Gern, MD, professor, and Dan Jackson, MD, professor.

The first study, “Childhood asthma and the neonatal environment” or CANOE, seeks to identify causes of childhood asthma and is recruiting expectant mothers and families to join the cohort. Mothers delivering at UnityPoint­–Meriter Hospital are eligible for the study if there is a history of allergic diseases or asthma in the mother or father. Nicole Baumnan-Blackmore, MD, clinical associate professor, Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, and the nursery team at Meriter is helping to collect information and samples related to asthma risk starting at birth. For more information on this study, visit medicine.wisc.edu/asthma/canoe, email canoe@medicine.wisc.edu, or call 608-228-9590.

The second study, called “Systems biology of early allergy” or SUNBEAM, is the first birth cohort study specifically designed to investigate what causes food allergies in children. The Madison site is part of a multi-center study, and it is just starting to recruit at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital with the help of Jennifer Krupp, MD, maternal and fetal medicine specialist, SSM Health. For more information on this study, visit medicine.wisc.edu/asthma/sunbeam, email sunbeam@medicine.wisc.edu, or call 608-513-4051.