DARTNet Institute Collaborates with Brigham and Women’s Hospital on Asthma Study

New asthma study funded by PCORI

AURORA, COLORADO, USA, April 26, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The DARTNet Institute will collaborate with Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Pulmonary and Allergy on a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) $30+ million-dollar funding award (inclusive of all costs) on asthma. This is the fourth PCORI funded project the two institutions have collaborated on in the past eight years. This latest study is titled, Improving the Quality of Asthma Care for Patients at Risk for Exacerbations (iCARE). The study will compare two approaches to delivering inhaled corticosteroids as part of rescue therapy for patients with asthma. The study is a follow-on investigation from the PeRson EmPowered Asthma Relief study (PREPARE) which demonstrated in 2022 the effectiveness of an inhaled corticosteroid inhaler (ICS) added to usual care as part of rescue therapy to lower exacerbation rates in Black and Hispanic individuals with asthma.

Asthma affects one in 14 people in the United States, and its estimated cost is $100 billion. The burden is greatest in minority and underprivileged communities. The typical person with asthma has an exacerbation about every two years with many people having several exacerbations per year. New approaches to treatment and new medications are beginning to lower exacerbation or ‘asthma attack’ rates in high-risk individuals. This study will continue the exploration of the best approaches to decreasing exacerbations using ICS.

Dr. Elliot Israel, one of the dual principal investigators for iCARE said, “It is clear that the change to using ICS as part of rescue therapy is a game changer for many people with asthma. We are unclear if the two ways to provide ICS as rescue therapy work better for different people. This study should answer that question.”

DARTNet will provide data support activities for this study as it did for the PREPARE study. Dr. Wilson Pace, DARTNet co-investigator said, “iCARE continues the exploration of methods of improving asthma care that began with PREPARE, is being expanded by the Individualizing Treatment of Asthma in Primary Care (iTREAT-PC) study and should complete our understanding of optimal approaches to delivering ICS for rescue therapy.”

Dr. David Mauger of Pennsylvania State University, dual principal investigator for both the iCARE and iTREAT studies, said, “It is exciting to see these two large studies funded by PCORI virtually simultaneously. Combined, they will help clarify treatment options for people with asthma perhaps prior to initiating costly biologic approaches to treatment. It is a pleasure to be a part of this highly experienced research team.”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Pennsylvania State and DARTNet will support 20 different clinical sites in recruiting and tracking 4200 people with asthma for 15 months each once the iCARE full study starts. For the DARTNet led iTREAT-PC study, the three organizations will support up to thirteen different clinical sites to recruit and track 3200 people with asthma for 16 months each. The size and scope of the studies underscore PCORI’s commitment to improving asthma care, a disease with a high degree of disparity in outcomes across various racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

The DARTNet Institute is a not-for-profit research and clinical care support organization that focuses on the improved use of electronic health data to improve health outcomes. DARTNet has become known for its ability to obtain or extract electronic health record data from a wide variety of clinical organizations, from solo doctor’s offices to large integrated health systems as well as providing support for collecting data directly from patients. DARTNet provides advanced solutions to standardize these data into datasets ready for both research and clinical care. DARTNet collaborates with multiple academic health centers, private research organizations and hundreds of clinical organizations to advance knowledge and track health outcomes.

Wilson D Pace
DARTNet Institute
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