Interpreting natural experiments

For the study of the allergy and asthma epidemic: interpreting natural experiments

Inaugural lecture by Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay, Chair of Paediatrics

6.30pm, Tuesday 24 February 2009, Chowen Lecture Theatre, BSMS, University of Sussex

All welcome: please email events@brighton.ac.uk to book your place.

Why has eczema tripled in the last 30 years? Do cats and dogs have different effects on babies with eczema? How can the risk of childhood asthma be reduced?

Professor Mukhopadhyay works at BSMS and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital. He researches the causes of asthma and allergy in children and adolescents, and the implications for treatment.

He and his colleagues have discovered a gene change that increases the risk of eczema and asthma. Present in about 10 per cent of the population, the gene makes a newborn baby three times as likely to develop eczema by the age of one. In this lecture, Professor Mukhopadhyay looks at how genes interact with the environment to influence eczema and asthma susceptibility and severity. He hopes that future large-scale studies could reduce reliance on steroids and help develop focused, efficient and individualised interventions for these conditions.