Sima Ramratnam
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Medicine & Clinical Research·Early-career
Asthma is the most common chronic disease of children in the United States, and both genes and environment shape who develops it. Black and Caribbean Hispanic children are up to three times more likely than White children to develop asthma before age four.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
Genetics
- Topics
childhood asthma
preschool-onset asthma
early-onset asthma
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2030
What they work on
- Identify genes associated with preschool-onset asthma, which begins before age four, through a candidate gene association study.
- Determine which single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), single-letter DNA variants, in preschool-onset asthma genes interact with early-life exposure to air pollution such as PM2.5 and NO2 to increase asthma risk.
- Test whether air pollution exposure in the first year of life is associated with changes in the expression of preschool-onset asthma genes in nasal epithelial cells, using transcriptomic analysis of gene activity.
More about the research
This preschool-onset form carries the highest risk of hospitalization and is linked to reduced lung growth and lower lung function. Black and Latinx children are also exposed to more air pollution from every type of emission source in the US. Earlier research by the CREW/ECHO consortium linked fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the first three years of life to higher odds of early asthma, with a stronger link among Black children. How pollution exposure interacts with a child's genetic risk is unknown.
Why it matters
Preschool-onset asthma disproportionately affects Black and Caribbean Hispanic children and carries the highest risk of hospitalization and lasting lung problems. By pinpointing genetic variants that make some children more vulnerable to air pollution, this work could reveal molecular targets for personalized asthma prevention. Those targets could benefit young children in under-resourced, highly polluted neighborhoods.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Meredith McCormack
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Public Health & Epidemiology
Determine how bedroom air quality, allergens such as mouse allergen, and microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus relate to objectively measured sleep quality in low-income children with asthma in Baltimore City.
Thomas Clasen
Emory University, GA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Test whether the HAPIN LPG stove and fuel intervention, given during pregnancy and the first year of life, has lasting benefits for neurological and physical development in children followed to age 5 in Guatemala, India and Rwanda.
John Volckens
Colorado State University-Fort Collins, CO·Public Health & Epidemiology
Deploy a low-cost national air sampling network and analyze PM2.5 samples for trace metals and oxidative potential, the particles' ability to promote oxidative stress in cells.
The school
University of Wisconsin-Madison: 91 labs on PI Pages, $1.9B a year on research, 854 research doctorates a year.
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