Why is asthma so interesting as a research issue?
Asthma is a serious and widespread condition in childhood, with most symptoms starting before school age. The fascinating feature of asthma is the unprecedented increase in the amount of people with asthma, particularly over the last four decades.
The causes for this increase are largely unknown but what we do know is that you are more likely to develop asthma if you have a family history of asthma or allergy, and the cause of sudden increases in asthma prevalence is linked with a person’s environment.
However, despite the fact that there is a clear genetic component to asthma, genetic studies have produced variable results to date and similarly there are often inconsistencies about the exact role of environmental factors in the development of asthma. For example, in different studies breastfeeding has been shown to increase the risk of asthma, decrease the risk of asthma or have no effect on asthma development. Similarly, cat and dog ownership in some studies had different effects on the risk of developing asthma.
For me, trying to find an explanation for apparently contradictory data is the most challenging and interesting aspect of asthma research.
What do you most enjoy about your work?
We have set up the Asthma UK Manchester Asthma and Allergy Study (MAAS), which follows more than 1,000 children from their birth and throughout their childhood.
In 1995 we started recruitment in antenatal clinics and now it is immensely satisfying to see these children coming back at the age of 11.
I have also been privileged throughout my research to work with a group of fantastic, multidisciplinary people including my close friend Ashley Woodcock and the MAAS team (Bridget Simpson, Dr Lesley Lowe, Dr Angela Simpson, Trish Kissen and Gina Kerry and a number of other scientists, physicians and nurses).
How does Asthma UK help your research?
Asthma UK has been instrumental in enabling me to pursue my research interests. In particular, the Asthma UK Senior Research Fellowship has enabled me to fully concentrate on my academic career in asthma research. I can honestly say that without Asthma UK the successful research that we are currently carrying out in Manchester would never have happened.
What do hope to achieve as a result of your research?
I hope to understand the complex way in which a person's genes and their environment interplay to cause asthma.
The identification of children at increased risk because of a particular genetic pre-disposition they display when exposed to a particular environmental factor, will allow us to develop tailor-made and individualised measures for both primary prevention and management of asthma. This way we can target the individuals who will benefit from a particular intervention, which will help us move away from a 'one-size fits all' intervention method to providing targeted interventions for those individuals at risk of developing asthma.
How we help
Asthma UK research projects for 2008
Our researchers
Professor Adnan Custovic
Adnan Custovic is a Professor of Allergy at Wythenshawe Hospital, University of Manchester. His main area of research is understanding the complex interplay between a person’s genes and their environment, and how this leads to asthma. 
