Ireland To Lead the Way in Asthma Cure Research

Dr Conor Burke, Consultant at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown has been awarded an initial grant of €600,000, following an EU competition, for an EC funded project to help find a cure for asthma.  The GABRIEL Project, an EC funded initiative bringing together over 150 scientists from 14 European countries uses the latest research across a variety of disciplines, including genetics, epidemiology and immunology to identify key factors in the development of asthma.

Professor Bill Cookson, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, T.D., Dr. Conor Burke

Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of Asthma worldwide. The Asthma Society of Ireland's vision is for Ireland to take a leading role in Europe in the clinical management of asthma and research and development in asthma therapy. Dr Jean Holohan, CEO of the Asthma Society, which has contributed significant funding to the Respiratory Unit in Connolly Hospital over the last three years, welcomed this news,

"At the Asthma Society we represent the 470,000 people who suffer from the disease and recognise the impact that this disease has on the patient's quality of life. We are delighted that Dr Burke's unit has been awarded this outstanding grant, it may bring a major breakthrough in new therapies for asthma," she said.

Speaking at the launch on Friday 6th of March Dr Burke outlined Ireland's role in this project.

"Our job now is to translate research laboratory findings in the field of asthma and develop them into new and better treatments. This opportunity also contributes hugely to the training of Irish doctors and scientists in research techniques not only relevant to asthma but all diseases, this is the essence of developing a knowledge economy," he said. "By examining the genetic information of the patient with the environmental situation that has brought on an attack of asthma we determine what we call the phenotype. The phenotype can be catalogued and a database of tissues samples held in a bio-bank. This information can then be used in clinical trials with the ultimate aim of curing asthma, a disease that costs the EU €17 billion each year," said Dr Burke.

It is hoped that the breakthrough research carried out in Connolly Hospital will help identify how genes and the environment cause the development of asthma, identifying both risk and protective factors, with the long-term aim of preventing the illness.

Asthma is one of the most widespread illnesses in the country:

• Asthma affects 32 million people in the EU
• Asthma affects over 470,000 people in Ireland
• That translates to one in eight people in Ireland
• It kills at least one person per week in Ireland
• A third of those who die are under the age of 40 in Ireland
• Every hour one person dies of asthma in Western Europe

Speaking on Friday 6th  at the launch of the initiative Professor Bill Cookson, Professor of Respiratory Genetics at Imperial College London and Co-ordinator of the GABRIEL Project outlined the pioneering work possible in the area of Asthma.

"The GABRIEL Project has already made significant advances in our group. My group has recently discovered the gene responsible for childhood asthma. This is the first step to curing asthma. We now want to translate this research finding into developing that cure," he said. "I'm delighted that Dr Burke and his team have won this competition. They have an outstanding track record in this field and see a large number of patients on a weekly basis," said Professor Cookson.