# Investigation of Neighborhood Greenspace as Protection Against Development of Childhood Asthma

> **NIH NIH R21** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $244,365

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to vegetated land cover, or ‘greenspace’, particularly in early life,
may prevent development of asthma. One proposed mechanism behind this relationship describes microbial
diversity of natural landscapes contributing to diverse microbiome profiles in children who live nearby, thus
supporting robust immune development. Another proposed mechanism involves removal of asthma-causing air
pollutants by tree canopy. We propose a study of neighborhood greenspace in relation to the asthma
incidence, in a longitudinal cohort of over 170,000 children living in the Philadelphia metropolitan region,
followed from infancy. In the proposed study, we will link electronic health records (EHR) from the defined
cohort to high-spatial resolution greenspace metrics, by children’s individual geocoded addresses. Our rich
database will also include an array of additional environmental and sociodemographic measures of the
neighborhoods where children live, needed to disentangle the individual effects of greenspace from other
neighborhood factors, and also enabling a meaningful analysis of the joint effects of greenspace with other
conditions that may enhance or diminish the potential greenspace benefits. In our study, we specifically aim to:
1) Investigate the association between neighborhood greenspace and asthma incidence from infancy through
childhood (specifically, ages 2, 7 and 12) in a cohort of urban and suburban children; 2) Evaluate modification
of the relationship between greenspace and asthma incidence by other neighborhood characteristics that may
alter risk or vulnerability, including air pollution (PM2.5, O3), traffic, urban status, and sociodemographics; and,
3) Describe heterogeneity of the association with neighborhood greenspace among asthma phenotypes. We
will evaluate several greenspace measures in relation to asthma incidence, including overall greenness, tree
canopy coverage, grass/shrubs, natural landcover diversity, and spatial attributes of green spaces (e.g., patch
size, aggregation), and we will investigate these measures as time-window specific (e.g., infancy) and
cumulative greenspace exposures during follow-up. Our study will provide a robust analysis of the potential for
urban greenspace exposure in early life to protect against development of asthma. In addition, information from
subgroup and phenotype analyses may provide clues regarding the mechanisms by which greenspace may
affect risk of asthma, as well as the scope of potential impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10373233
- **Project number:** 1R21ES032963-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ANNECLAIRE J DE ROOS
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $244,365
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-02-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10373233

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10373233, Investigation of Neighborhood Greenspace as Protection Against Development of Childhood Asthma (1R21ES032963-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10373233. Licensed CC0.

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