Specific aims:

The consortium aims are to:

(i) progress the phenotyping on the birth cohort with the aim to identify novel specific phenotypes within the current syndrome based diagnoses of asthma, allergy and atopic dermatitis;

(ii) identify and replicate association of novel susceptibility genes involved in the inception and progression of these phenotypes taking into account temporal windows of susceptibility;

(iii) progress an understanding of gene regulation by environmental interactions;

(iv) provide a basis for the development of novel diagnostic tests and identification of molecular targets against which novel therapeutics suitable for proof of concept clinical trials can be developed;

(v) establish a novel cross-sectional birth cohort for replication of discoveries in the ongoing high-risk cohort; and

(vi) test the hypothesis that early bacterial colonisation is determinant to disease inception based on the novel discoveries in COPSAC of a close association between neonatal bacterial colonization of the mucosal surfaces of the airways and later development of asthma and allergy. This entails a randomized controlled trial manipulating the micro-flora colonization in neonates aiming to provide evidence for such new preventive treatment.