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. 2019 Jun 10;20(1):115.
doi: 10.1186/s12931-019-1088-9.

The Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW) birth cohort consortium: design, methods, and study population

James E Gern  1   2 , Daniel J Jackson  3 , Robert F Lemanske Jr  3 , Christine M Seroogy  3 , Umberto Tachinardi  3 , Mark Craven  3 , Stephen Y Hwang  4 , Carol M Hamilton  4 , Wayne Huggins  4 , George T O'Connor  5 , Diane R Gold  6 , Rachel Miller  7 , Meyer Kattan  7 , Christine C Johnson  8 , Dennis Ownby  8 , Edward M Zoratti  8 , Robert A Wood  9 , Cynthia M Visness  10 , Fernando Martinez  11 , Anne Wright  11 , Susan Lynch  12 , Carole Ober  13 , Gurjit K Khurana Hershey  14 , Patrick Ryan  14 , Tina Hartert  15 , Leonard B Bacharier  16
Affiliations

The Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW) birth cohort consortium: design, methods, and study population

James E Gern et al. Respir Res. .

Abstract

Background: Single birth cohort studies have been the basis for many discoveries about early life risk factors for childhood asthma but are limited in scope by sample size and characteristics of the local environment and population. The Children's Respiratory and Environmental Workgroup (CREW) was established to integrate multiple established asthma birth cohorts and to investigate asthma phenotypes and associated causal pathways (endotypes), focusing on how they are influenced by interactions between genetics, lifestyle, and environmental exposures during the prenatal period and early childhood.

Methods and results: CREW is funded by the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, and consists of 12 individual cohorts and three additional scientific centers. The CREW study population is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, geographical distribution, and year of recruitment. We hypothesize that there are phenotypes in childhood asthma that differ based on clinical characteristics and underlying molecular mechanisms. Furthermore, we propose that asthma endotypes and their defining biomarkers can be identified based on personal and early life environmental risk factors. CREW has three phases: 1) to pool and harmonize existing data from each cohort, 2) to collect new data using standardized procedures, and 3) to enroll new families during the prenatal period to supplement and enrich extant data and enable unified systems approaches for identifying asthma phenotypes and endotypes.

Conclusions: The overall goal of CREW program is to develop a better understanding of how early life environmental exposures and host factors interact to promote the development of specific asthma endotypes.

Keywords: Allergy; Asthma; Birth cohort; Children; Development; Environment; Longitudinal study.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors report grants from NIH during the conduct of study. J.E. Gern reports personal fees from PREP Biopharm Inc., Regeneron, MedImmune, and Ena Pharmaceuticals, as well as personal fees and stock options from Meissa Vaccines Inc. outside the submitted work. In addition, J.E. Gern has a patent “Methods of Propagating Rhinovirus C in Previously Unsusceptible Cell Lines” issued, and a patent “Adapted Rhinovirus C” pending. D. J Jackson reports grants from GlaxoSmithKline, as well as personal fees from Novartis, Vifor Pharma, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Commense outside the submitted work. L.B. Bacharier reports personal fees from GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech/Novartis, Merck, DBV Technologies, Teva, Boehringer Ingelheim Sanofi/Regeneron, Vectura, Circassia, and AstraZeneca outside the submitted work. R.A. Wood reports personal fees from AAAAI in the form of a presidential stipend and fees for work as a JACI Associate Editor, as well as royalties from Up To Date, outside the selected work. In addition, R.A. Wood grants from Aimmune, DBV, Astellas, Sanofi, Regeneron, and HAL Allergy outside the selected work. S. Lynch reports personal fees from Siolta Therapeutics outside the submitted work. R.F. Lemanske reports grants as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Award from NIH, Childhood Origins of ASThma (COAST), and AsthmaNet outside the submitted work. R.F. Lemanske also reports personal fees from LSU, University of Kentucky, and Thermo Fischer outside the submitted work. In addition, R.F. Lemanske reports royalties from Elsevier and Up To Date outside the submitted work. T. Hartert reports grants from the World Health Organization outside the submitted work. F. Martinez reports personal fees for consultancy from Commense Inc. and Copeval outside the submitted work. In addition, F. Martinez reports grants from Johnson & Johnson and Vifor Pharma outside the submitted work. G.T. O’Connor reports personal fees from AstraZeneca for consultancy, as well as a grant from Janssen Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work. M. Kattan reports personal fees from Novartis Pharma outside the submitted work. M. Craven, D.R. Gold, U. Tachinardi, C.M. Seroogy, E.M. Zoratti, P. Ryan, D. Ownby, C. Ober, R. Miller, S.Y. Hwang, W. Huggins, C.C. Johnson, G.K.K. Hershey, C.M. Visness, A. Wright, and C.M. Hamilton have nothing to disclose outside the submitted work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CREW conceptual diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Data elements common to multiple cohorts. The number of cohorts that collected each data element is shown according to maternal prenatal exposure (a) and childhood life stage (b); infancy 0–11 mo., early childhood 1–4 years, middle childhood 5–11 years, adolescence 12–18 years)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Samples collected by birth cohorts participating in the CREW consortium. The types of samples are indicated by the row titles, and the number of cohort-specific samples are color coded
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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