
Researchers at the University of Buffalo in New York plan to use a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health, Project ASTHMA (Aligning with Schools to Help Manage Asthma and Decrease Health Inequities) to study children in the Buffalo Public School District who have frequent asthma attacks.
Lucy C. Holmes, MD, clinical associate professor of pediatrics in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, serves as principal investigator for the Project ASTHMA, which began as a pilot study funded by UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The Project ASTHMA research program supports school-based asthma care for students between the ages of 4 and 13 who live below the poverty line.
“Our hypothesis is that we can improve the health of these kids who have uncontrolled asthma by giving them high-quality health care in the schools through school-based health centers,” said Dr. Holmes in a Buffalo University press release.
According to the university, school-based health centers are primary care clinics based at elementary and secondary school campuses and are distinct from the school nurse’s office. There are more than 3,000 school-based health centers throughout the U.S. There are 10 such centers in the Buffalo Public Schools.
“Novel ways of providing top-quality medical care for asthma to children in economically disadvantaged communities are needed to help decrease health inequities,” Dr. Holmes said in the release. “School-based health centers are led by advanced practice providers who can be trained to deliver high-quality asthma care to their patients.”
The primary goal of Project ASTHMA is to capture evidence that school-based health centers can improve outcomes.