World Asthma Day

In the UK, 7.2 million people have asthma, roughly 8 in every 100 people. Every ten seconds, someone in the UK experiences a potentially life-threatening asthma attack. 

The Inflammation and Immunity (I&I) Driver Programme seeks to better understand asthma—not just as a stand-alone condition, but as part of a wider issue, involving inflammation, inequality, and the UK healthcare system. The I&I team brings together health researchers, clinicians, statisticians, and data scientists from across the UK to build a deeper picture of how inflammation affects people differently, and why. 

The I&I programme is unique in its scale and ambition, harnessing the UK’s rich health and health-related data assets, including Electronic Health Records, hospital admissions, GP records, and social data to answer key questions:

• How do asthma outcomes vary across different communities and regions of the UK?
• What happens to people’s health—and the NHS—after an acute inflammatory episode like a severe asthma attack?
• Can we use advanced prediction tools to identify who is most at risk, and act before things get worse?

By answering these questions, the I&I team aims to improve systems for early warning, resource allocation, and care delivery, all while reducing unnecessary costs and inequalities.

In the UK, asthma disproportionately affects people from low-income backgrounds, ethnic minority groups, and communities with limited access to quality care. One of the I&I team’s core aims is to map variations in care and outcomes and identify where interventions are needed most urgently.

Moreover, the data science tools, methods, and insights generated from our study of asthma and other respiratory conditions will help transform care for many other inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, long COVID, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Spotlight on the Inflammation and Immunity Driver Programme’s Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement

Alongside data and clinical insight, patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) plays a critical role in shaping the I&I team’s research. Anna Grosse, a PPIE Lay Lead for the Inflammation and Immunity Driver Programme, shares her experience of contributing to asthma research and advocacy:

“I have lived with asthma for 18 years (and counting), first getting involved in PPIE through the former Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh. I was very keen to get involved with PPIE as I wanted to find out more about my condition, and I was intrigued as to how my perspectives could help further asthma research and benefit others. I knew it would be a great opportunity, but didn’t realise just how beneficial it would be – being a PPIE member has helped me to better control my condition through learning and trialling different techniques to manage my asthma, and it has also further developed key skills that have helped in both my learning and professional careers.

I was involved with the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research (AUKCAR) as a Children and Young Person volunteer. As I have grown, my PPIE opportunities have too, and I’m now a PPIE Lay Lead on HDR UK’s Driver Programme 2: Inflammation and Immunity. I also volunteer on the Scottish Patient Panel for the charity Asthma + Lung UK. I have more responsibility in these roles, and I am grateful that my experiences can be used to benefit significant and vital research.

Being a PPIE member has come with incredible opportunities, including attending conferences across the UK, going to workshops, and having an article published in The Lancet Journal of Respiratory Medicine. My PPIE experiences have given me a greater appreciation for research processes, as well as a deeper insight into asthma itself through hearing other’s experiences with the condition and learning more from researchers.

As someone who was afraid to speak up and let my voice be heard, it’s important to know that your input will be valued. Research environments can be intimidating, and in my experience, it can feel like information goes right over your head, but I have learnt it’s OK to ask for help – research can be difficult to understand at any age. I have found that researchers have been great at explaining technical terms and are very open to taking different routes with their projects based on your suggestions. PPIE is a give and take relationship, which benefits both the researcher and PPIE member – it is important for both sides to feel understood in order for the research to make the most impact.  

I hope that PPIE gains more recognition, not only from researchers, but also from patients and the public, as it can be difficult to find out about projects unless you’re already involved in PPIE groups. Everyone has something to offer, whether they believe it or not, so it’s worthwhile searching for charities to get involved with, or asking healthcare professionals if they know of any opportunities. PPIE is not just a checkbox exercise, it is hugely important to let patients and public members use their voices in research. Listening to different perspectives and experiences will further cement the purpose of the research and make it more ‘‘real’’. After all, research should be conducted not just for the public, but with the public too.”

Highlighting some recent research insights from the I&I team:

New study reveals trends in lung disease across the UK over two decades

A recent study published in Thorax has provided the first comprehensive analysis of three major lung diseases—asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and interstitial lung disease (ILD)—across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland over the past two decades.

Led by Dr Hannah Whittaker, an Inflammation and Immunity Research Fellow based at Imperial College London, the research team analysed data from national health records between 2004 and 2023, and found that the incidence of asthma and COPD has decreased over time. In contrast, cases of ILD—a group of conditions that cause lung scarring—have increased across all four nations.

To learn more, click here.

New study provides insight on clinical remission in severe asthma patients treated with biologics

A systematic review and meta-analysis led by researchers from the Inflammation and Immunity Driver Programme has provided fresh insights into the achievement of clinical remission in severe asthma patients treated with biologic therapies (treatments that use substances derived from living organisms).

Clinical remission (a state of minimal disease activity) is achievable for some patients with severe asthma using biologic therapies. However, this study, published recently in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, suggests that for some patients, significant barriers remain—especially for those with long disease duration, severe symptoms, or specific comorbidities such as depression and obesity.

To learn more, click here.

Looking to the future:

The Inflammation and Immunity Driver Programme will continue to investigate the burden of asthma and other respiratory conditions across the UK—and how research, collaboration, and lived experience can come together to improve outcomes for those affected.

Organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), World Asthma Day was first held in 1998 and has grown each year to become one of the most important asthma events globally, with hundreds of awareness-raising activities taking place all over the world.

To learn more about World Asthma Day, click here.