URGENCY

Chronic respiratory diseases, especially asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are an enormous and growing burden on society, in terms of disability and premature mortality. In the EU these chronic disorders cause, besides a severe impact on quality of life, a financial burden of an estimated €380 billion annually.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a genetically diverse common respiratory virus that infects nearly all infants before the age of 2 years. Strong epidemiological data link respiratory RSV infections to asthma development. The molecular and physiological mechanisms of how these viral infections cause and contribute to asthma development are unknown thus hampering prevention and therapeutic approaches.

GOAL

The CLARITY project aims to unravel the causative link between respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and asthma development in predisposed individuals to identify targets for therapy.

HOW?

CLARITY partners combine their expertise into a highly integrative approach to understand how RSV infection interacts with genetic predisposition to identify viral and host genetic risk factors, pathways, and mechanisms underlying virus-induced asthma. 

Via this website we will update on the subject and project progress.