Key Objectives:
To achieve a collective understanding regarding the proposed structure and function of the proposed aeroallergen monitoring network. To obtain comment on CSTE’s implementation strategy for this network.
Brief Summary:
The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists’ Asthma and Allergy Workgroup, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has been involved in a multi-year project to establish a comprehensive aeroallergen monitoring network. This envisioned network consists of several integrated structural and functional components, administered and governed through a democratically organized consortium. The core structural component will be a data repository, where information on aeroallergens is stored. The repository will also have the capacity to incorporate other important environmental and health information sources into a relational data platform. This platform will provide the means by which the data can be analyzed to serve a wide variety of public health assessment and communication purposes and makes possible the central functionality of the system. Finally, we propose that the operations of this network will be directed by a consortium based entity, modeled after the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. The roundtable discussion will focus on the details regarding how this conceptual framework will be implemented. The session will begin with an overview of the responses to CSTE’s position statement and the ensuing key informant interviews relative to the establishment of the monitoring network. Subsequently, we will discuss existing models that can inform the aeroallergen network, including: the National Allergen Bureau; the pollen data repository at the University of Washington; the comprehensive monitoring and analysis system developed by Aerobiology Research Laboratories in Canada; and the consortium-based National Atmospheric Deposition Program. The session will conclude with a strategic conversation regarding the opportunities and challenges associated with putting this network into practice. In particular, this network vision can motivate innovative paths that blend traditional and emerging monitoring technologies. On the one hand, the lack of an established program could present an obstacle in a political environment not conducive to the promotion of new public health initiatives. On the other hand, the significant and increasing health burden of aeroallergen exposure, particularly in light of a rapidly changing climate, provides a foundation for engaging a diverse community of stakeholders around a comprehensive strategy to address this environmental health threat.