Clinical Research Units

Unit Presentation

The main goal of the Clinical and knowledge transfer research group on paediatric asthma is to improve health care services, the management, and treatment offered to children with asthma.

Asthma can be well controlled in all patients and allow an active life without limitation. Yet, many children in Quebec still suffer needlessly from poorly controlled asthma, despite the good practice guidelines, the availability of effective drugs, and free access to medical services.

In addition, several studies suggest that the control of asthma achieved in childhood influences the evolution of asthma during adulthood. It is thus essential to identify factors that help or prevent good asthma control during childhood and test novel ways to overcome them. The precise documentation of the asthma type and the level of control achieved during childhood and adolescence will allow the measurement of its long-term impact on adulthood. It is important to follow children until adulthood to determine their future health status.

Improvement in the management of children with asthma can be achieved through clinical research and research in knowledge transfer targeting the children, their family and the health care professionals.

The CURCA trains students at the master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral level to train new clinical researchers.

Quelques études majeures en cours

• Pediatric asthma database and Biobank of the CHU Sainte-Justine
• Clinico-administrative database for research in children (B-CARE)
• Determinants of Oral Corticosteroid Responsiveness In Wheezing Asthmatic Youth (DOORWAY)
• Development of an educational module for the teaching of the ‘’ Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (pram) –an asthma severity score’’ to students and health care professionals
• Identification of barriers to optimal asthma management by physicians
• Establishing a Medication Data Registry (REMED)
• Influence of neighbourhood characteristics and obesity on asthma outcomes in children and adolescents
• New measures of prescription patterns and adherence to treatment among asthmatic patients.