The grant was awarded to uncover the mechanisms underlying the development of childhood asthma, which today affects approximately 20% of all pre-school-age children in the westernized world. The project is based on extensive data and biological samples from 700 Danish children followed closely since the last part of their mother’s pregnancy in the COPSAC (Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood) mother-child cohort. The children have undergone extensive tests and assessments with the aim to follow the development of asthma and related diseases long before symptoms occur and COPSAC represents today one of the world’s most comprehensive and detailed cohorts describing the development of health and disease in early life.
