Dr. Jones Receives $2.4 million NIH Grant for Asthma Treatment Research
Bridgette Jones, MD, MSCR, Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology and Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology, has received a five-year, $2.4 million R01 
grant from the National Institutes of Health for research on predicting treatment response in children with asthma.
Dr. Jones’ study is titled, “A Histamine Pharmacodynamic Biomarker to Guide Treatment in Pediatric Asthma.”
There is a critical need for tools that predict treatment response for asthma therapies in children. Children who require daily asthma treatment with a controller medication such as an inhaled steroid are defined to have persistent asthma. Approximately 60% of children with asthma in the U.S have persistent disease.
Variability in treatment response to standard guideline-supported medications (e.g. inhaled steroids, leukotriene modifiers, mono-clonal antibodies) exists among children with persistent asthma. Clinical markers, such as markers in the blood or lung, do not predict treatment response well.
It is not possible to provide the most effective treatments for all asthma patients without tools that predict which medications may work best before a patient tries them. Dr. Jones’ research hypothesizes that a tool called “HILD” is predictive of treatment response to an antihistamine treatment in children with asthma.
Her research also will determine if there are differences between African-American and Caucasian children in underlying asthma pathophysiology and treatment response to antihistamine treatment. In addition, the study will determine if HILD combined with clinical markers in the blood and lung can provide an even better prediction of who responds to antihistamine for treatment of allergic-type asthma.
Children’s Mercy Kansas City is an independent, non-profit, 390-bed pediatric health system, providing over half a million patient encounters each year for children from across the country. Children’s Mercy is ranked by U.S. News & World Report in all ten specialties. We have received Magnet® recognition five times for excellence in nursing services. In affiliation with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, our faculty of nearly 800 pediatric specialists and researchers is actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research and educating the next generation of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists. The Children’s Mercy Research Institute (CMRI) integrates research and clinical care with nationally recognized expertise in genomic medicine, precision therapeutics, population health, health care innovation and emerging infections. In 2021 the CMRI moved into a nine-story, 375,000-square-foot space emphasizing a translational approach to research in which clinicians and researchers work together to accelerate the pace of discovery that enhances care.