Research Seminars

About

Research Seminars gather a small number (20 to 100) of well-established and preferably young investigators to address scientific topics in depth and help break new ground. Research Seminars take place over two days in easy-to-reach European cities. They are scientific Seminars involving recently published work and research in progress. Participation is fully supported by the budget granted by the ERS.

Preventing asthma - are we ready to translate epidemiological and mechanistic studies into reality?

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease in children. Whilst progress has been made in the development of novel biologics as therapy for severe asthma, the involved costs are enormous thus enabling therapy of a limited number of patients affected by severe illness. Therefore, the quest for preventive approaches targeting young children before the onset of disease (primary prevention) or after first signs of disease in children at risk (secondary prevention) has moved forward rapidly with some novel promising approaches on the near horizon.

The aims of this ERS research seminar were:

To bring together the key players in the field of primary prevention of asthma
Review state-of-the-art studies including basic mechanisms, animal studies, epidemiological studies and ongoing and proposed intervention studies
To highlight the areas of uncertainly in the above areas, by peer-led critical discussion
To educate and inspire Early Career Members (ECMs) about primary prevention
To write and publish a position statement on prevention of asthma

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What are key immune mechanisms for asthma onset in humans? Donata Vercelli (US)
Trained innate immunity, a new target for asthma prevention? Milena Sokolowska (CH)
OP1_Deciphering the roles of S. aureus nasal carriage and S. aureus toxins in allergic sensitization and inflammation in patients and mouse models Sabine Stegemann- Koniszewski (DE)
Improving mucosal barrier function; a useful therapeutic strategy? Hermelijn Smits (NL)
New mechanistic data on bacterial lysates Christian Pasquali (CH)
The respiratory and gut microbiome; can we change its compositional structure? Debby Bogaert (UK)
Data from the whole heat-inactivated polybacterial formulation MV130 Oscar Palomares (ES)
Milk and their products; what should our children consume? Markus Ege (DE)
OP2_The impact of viral infections on children and adults with asthma and wheeze - lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic Nicole Maison (DE)
Parasite products for the prevention and treatment of asthma Rick Maizels (UK)
Early allergen introduction; when and to whom to apply? Adnan Custovic (UK)
Fish oil in pregnancy; just do it – or more studies needed? Klaus Bonnelykke (DK)
Protecting the fetus and the child from the toxic breathed environment; is it possible? Ben Barratt (UK)
OP3_Moraxella catarrhalis alters airway epithelial immune and repair responses in severe recurrent preschool wheeze Katie L Bonner (UK)
Epidemiological studies; false leads or future directions? Seif Shaheen (UK)