In 2002, the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) created the Inner City Asthma Consortium (ICAC) via the awarding of a nearly $62 million contract to UW-Madison faculty William Busse (Professor of Medicine), Christine Sorkness (Distinguished Professor of Medicine and School of Pharmacology) and James Gern (Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine). In 2009, the UW Madison team successfully competed for the ICAC2 contract, receiving an additional $58.3 million and extending support through 2014. Daniel Jackson (Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine) joined the ICAC leadership team for the ICAC3 grant which was received August 2014 and extends support through 2021 with annual budgets of $10 million.

ICAC is a multi-study, multi-center initiative to study the causes of the urban asthma epidemic that afflicts millions of children and to develop treatments to improve control of asthma in this population and for children in general. Drs. Jackson and Gern are currently co-PIs of ICAC-3 and provide scientific direction and overall ICAC management services. UW-Madison staff in the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics deliver technical support involving pulmonary function testing, laboratory sample processing, contracting, procurement and budgetary matters. ICAC is composed of the UW-Madison based Administrative Center, eleven clinical sites located in major U.S. cities, four basic science laboratories, including one at the UW-Madison, and a Statistical and Clinical Coordinating Center.

For more information, please contact us at khernand@medicine.wisc.edu.