Trans-generational effects: exposures before conception & offspring risk of asthma and allergies

• 
  Unit Head
  Professor Shyamali Dharmage

  s.dharmage@unimelb.edu.au

  View researcher's webpage

  +613 8344 0737

Project Details

We aim to establish whether pre-conception exposure to allergens, proxy markers of lower microbial diversity (e.g. lack of exposure to farming and infections), chemicals (e.g. tobacco smoke, occupational exposures), metabolic risk markers (e.g. obesity, diet) and parental disease phenotypes (e.g. severity of asthma and immune markers) increase the risk of asthma and allergies in offspring independent of post-conception exposures.

Project summary

There is emerging evidence, mainly from animal studies, that asthma and allergy may result from exposures before conception. If pre-conception exposures are important in the development of asthma and allergies, it is a "game changer" in this area, as it may:

1. Lead to novel interventions
2. Explain the inconsistent evidence on post-conception risk factors (possible confounding by pre-conception risk factors)
3. Explain the failure of intervention trials directed at the post-conception period.

Our study is part of Respiratory Health In Northern Europe, Switzerland, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) project, an international research project investigating lung health in the offspring of the prestigious European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) participants in 11 centres in Northern Europe, Spain, Switzerland, and Australia. Our international study will be the world's first to use the life course approach to identify pre-conception risk factors for asthma and allergies in children and adults.

Researchers

Professor Shyamali Dharmage

Dr John Burgess

Associate Professor Lyle Gurrin

Professor John Hopper

Dr Adrian Lowe

Dr Caroline Lodge

Professor Michael Abramson (Monash University)

Professor Katie Allen (Murdoch Children's Research Institute)

Dr Chris Barton (University of Adelaide)

Dr Geza Benke (Monash University)

Associate Professor Bircan Erbas (LaTrobe University)

Dr Melanie Matheson (Telstra Health)

Professor Gita Mishra (University of Queensland)

Professor Richard Saffery (Murdoch Children's Research Institute)

Professor Melissa Southey (Melbourne School of Biomedical Sciences, Melbourne Medical School, The University of Melbourne)

Professor Cecilie Svanes (University of Bergen, Norway)

Professor Paul Thomas (University of New South Wales)

Professor Haydn Walters (University of Tasmania)

Funding

Bergen Research Foundation Norway

The University of Melbourne

This is part of the Respiratory Health In Northern Europe, Switzerland, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) project