Pitt Nets EPA Grant for Asthma Study

The University of Pittsburgh has received more than $1 million to study the effects of community stressors on childhood asthma rates, when they're mixed with air pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency has given out a total of about $8 million to researchers nationwide to study the effects of those stressors on various public health issues.

EPA environmental health scientist Richard Callan says the Pitt study will yield valuable information about factors affecting asthma. He says researchers will gather information about the influence of air pollution, crime, poor nutrition, poverty, and other factors on childhood asthma rates. Then, they'll engage the communities in conversation and action about how they can lower those rates.

Callan says the Pitt team will work in New York City neighborhoods alongside researchers from New York University, Harvard University and other local groups. He says the study’s being done in New York because of the large amount of data available on the neighborhoods there.