Topics and Expertise: Latinos

The UCSF Asthma Collaboratory celebrates 20 years of research on genetic factors in asthma.

The most comprehensive genetic study of the Mexican population to date has revealed as much genetic differentiation as the variation between some Europeans and Asians.

In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers led by UCSF scientists found that infants in minority populations who are exposed to motor vehicle air pollution, specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO2), are more likely to develop asthma later in childhood.

Asthma specialist and genetics researcher, Esteban G. Burchard, MD, MPH, joint faculty member in the UCSF Schools of Pharmacy and Medicine, discusses the differences in the incidence of asthma and response to asthma drugs among various subgroups within the larger Latino population.

What began as a fascination with fish when he was a child eventually led Esteban Burchard, MD to study genetic differences behind asthma risk.