# The effect of a housing mobility program on environmental exposures and asthma morbidity among low-income minority children

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $675,968

## Abstract

Children living in poor-urban neighborhoods bear a high burden of asthma morbidity, and there is strong
evidence that housing-related environmental exposures such as pest allergens are a major driver of this
excess asthma morbidity. Historic residential discrimination together with systemic disinvestment in
neighborhoods have contributed to poor neighborhood and housing conditions, which make successful
mitigation of housing-related exposures difficult, and in many cases, impossible. In contrast, housing mobility
programs, where families are supported in moving to less segregated communities, may address the root-
causes of the exposures that drive asthma disparities, while also serving as a tool by which we can parse the
role of various housing and neighborhood exposures and understand their long-term effects on asthma. In our
Mobility Asthma Project (MAP, R01 ES026170-05), children with asthma are followed before and after moving
from high-poverty segregated neighborhoods to low-poverty neighborhoods. We have found, so far, that with
moving, allergen levels and asthma outcomes are markedly reduced. This suggests that housing policy may be
a tool to reduce asthma disparities. However, while these initial findings strongly support the benefit of housing
mobility programs on short-term asthma outcomes, additional questions have emerged which can only be
answered by follow-up of this unique cohort. Our aims here are (1) To compare long-term (4-7 years) asthma
morbidity and home exposures between low-income, minority children with asthma who move to low-poverty
neighborhoods with similar children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, (2) To determine if moving from a
high- to a low-poverty neighborhood is associated with improved lung function growth among the original MAP
participants by repeatedly assessing lung function up to 4-7 years post-move and comparing their lung function
trajectories with a similar population from the URECA cohort and (3) To examine the role of stress, measured
by: a) exposure to neighborhood stressors, b) parental/caregiver stress, and c) child stress in the relationships
between indoor exposures, moving, and asthma morbidity and lung function. The proposed MAP Follow-Up
Study is poised to advance our understanding of the long-term effects of living in poor quality housing in high
poverty neighborhoods on asthma and lung function growth and directly inform the development of policy-
oriented interventions, such as expansion of housing mobility programs, which show great promise for
reducing the disproportionate burden of asthma among minority children with asthma.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10296756
- **Project number:** 2R01ES026170-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Corinne Keet
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $675,968
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2016-03-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10296756

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10296756, The effect of a housing mobility program on environmental exposures and asthma morbidity among low-income minority children (2R01ES026170-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10296756. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*