Help Families Manage Asthma at Home

To keep their children healthy and out of the emergency room, parents of children with asthma need convenient ways to monitor their environment and learn to prevent attacks.
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The Solution

Our researchers are working to put the power to predict attacks into a parent's hands. A mother could activate a sensor each morning to tell her how concentrated the air particles are in her house. She'd know if she needed to give her child extra medication to protect him. This research project, the first step to making that a reality, will study when these air particles go from acceptable levels to the danger zone. The research project will collect data to determine the point at which indoor air quality begins to negatively affect a patient's lung capacity.

Doctors will then be able to develop an early warning system to allow families to detect environmental triggers and how to avoid them. Once the level of air particles is established, a family can take preventive steps to reduce the amount of particulates, which in turn will reduce the likelihood of triggering the child's asthma symptoms. Air quality will be monitored using a particulate monitor, and lung capacity will be observed using a spirometer.
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How You Can Help

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National has endorsed a part of this study. With your support the researchers will be able to fund the equipment, resources, and personnel to run the entire asthma air quality study.
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Detailed Budget

Amount requested: $40,081

Use	Amount
Software developer	$14,993
Research associate	$8,168
Tablet PC: $500 each; Dylos particulate monitor: $425 each; digital spirometer; $995 each; total for six systems including one of each item	$11,520
Student volunteers' stipends Duties include: • Making initial visit to set up equipment • Visiting weekly to download particulate monitor data, record spirometer readings, and counsel family based on data collected	$1,000 x 2
Laptops for volunteers	$1,000 x 2
Local travel reimbursement	$300
Patient incentives	$1,100
Statistical support	$4,000
Total	$40,081

This project is a clinical trial with two groups of six patients each: a study arm and a control group. The trial will run for ten weeks and all patients will receive a particulate monitor and spirometer for home use. Student volunteers will visit each home weekly to record data and counsel the family based on the data collected. They will use laptop computers for this purpose. Statistical support is needed to analyze the results.
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Incentives

Donation	Incentive
$25 or more	An IMPACT DC magnet!
$50 or more	An invitation to "demo day" when the prototype is presented at Children's National
$500 or more	A personal tour of the Emergency Department at Children's National and the IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic hosted by Dr. Teach
$1,000 or more	Invitations to attend signature events to meet hospital physicians, researchers, and other leading donors; Updates about hospital initiatives and research discoveries
$5,000 or more	All $1,000 donor benefits plus: A personal tour of the Emergency Department at Children's National and the IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic hosted by Dr. Teach and a personal tour of the Sheikh Zayed Institute hosted by Dr. Cleary
$10,000 or more	All $5,000 donor benefits plus: Personal lunch with Drs. Cleary, Horn, and Teach in honor of the donor and a full tour of Children's National

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The Researchers

Kevin Cleary, PhD
A research professor and engineer, Dr. Cleary leads the Sheikh Zayed Institute's interdisciplinary bioengineering team, with a focus on improving visualization in pediatric surgery through medical devices and robotics. As part of that work, he will modify devices designed for adult surgery to work better in the smaller bodies of children. Embracing the unprecedented opportunity to work side by side with physician researchers and other engineers, Dr. Cleary seeks to expand and improve the application of robotics and other devices in pediatric surgery. Dr. Cleary believes the fledgling field of pediatric robotics can advance faster thanks to the unique multidisciplinary set up of the Institute. Dr. Cleary comes to Children's National from Georgetown University Medical Center's Department of Radiology, where he was director and professor at the Imaging Science and Information Systems Center. He is the co-editor of the book Image-Guided Interventions: Technology and Applications. Dr. Cleary received his doctorate from the University of Texas in Austin and was an NSF-sponsored post-doctoral fellow in robotics in Japan.

Stephen J. Teach, MD, MPH
Dr. Teach is a Professor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, associate chief of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Children's National, and Division Chief of Allergy and Immunology. Dr. Teach received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He completed an internship and a residency in pediatrics as well as a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. He also holds a Master's in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Teach is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, with a subspecialty board in pediatric emergency medicine. Dr. Teach's primary academic focus is on the disparities evident in the care of inner-city children with asthma, including their over-reliance on urban emergency departments for episodic asthma care. He is principal investigator and medical director of "Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia" (IMPACT DC), an asthma surveillance, research, clinical care, and advocacy program in Washington.

Ivor Braden Horn, MD, MPH
Dr. Horn is a general academic pediatrician and researcher in the Center for Translational Science of CRI. She has served as a community-based primary care pediatrician practicing in Southeast Washington, DC, as part of the Ambulatory and Community Pediatrics Division at Children's since 1999. She is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine. She attended Spelman College and Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Oakland in Oakland, California and her fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics and Community Oriented Primary Care at CNMC. During her fellowship, she completed a Masters in Public Health at George Washington University School of Public Health.

She is also an NIH-funded researcher with a focus on child health disparities and health care communication, with a particular interest in the use of social media and mobile health (mHealth) technology with underserved populations. She leads the mHealth interest group at CNMC. She is also the Principal Investigator and Program Director of the HRSA-funded Washington, DC Pediatric Primary Urban Scholarship in Health (DC Primary PUSH) Program in the Division of General Pediatrics and Community Health at CNMC to develop a model for community based pediatric academic scholarship that prepares future primary care pediatrician leaders to address the health care needs of underserved communities through research and teaching. Dr. Horn is a member of the Academic Pediatric Association, having served in leadership positions regionally as well as nationally, including serving as co-founder of the Race in Medicine Special Interest Group. She is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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