|
The goal of the Children's Environmental Health Center (CEHC)
is to improve the respiratory health of children through research
and education. Marshalling the multidisciplinary talents of
both USC and UCLA faculty, the CEHC is funded by the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental
Protection Agency.
The CEHC focuses on environmental factors that lead to childhood
respiratory disease as well as genetic variations that may
make a child more or less susceptible to developing respiratory
problems.
In addition, the CEHC aims to increase public awareness of
children’s respiratory health and how this is affected
by environmental exposures, to involve more clinical and basic
investigators and community leaders in the efforts, to attract
new investigators into the field and to develop community
outreach programs.
Currently, CEHC investigators focus on three main projects:
In the Children’s Health Study II, scientists look at
the interplay of genes and diet to help explain why, in the
face of chronic air pollution, some children develop asthma
or other respiratory problems and some children do not.
Investigators leading the Asthma Intervention Project have
developed an environmental health education program for the
families of children with asthma. Researchers aim to see whether
the education program will lead to a reduction in asthma triggers
(such as dust mites and cockroaches) in households and/or
improved health in the children.
A third major study focuses on how environmental tobacco
smoke triggers airway allergies and other lung problems in
children. The study will also probe the underlying mechanisms
of how environmental tobacco smoke elicits an antibody response.
For more information please visit the following dedicated
Web sites:
|
