LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ( KTAL/KMSS ) – Doctors at a research institute in Arkansas are trying to determine why children from Arkansas have more difficulty with asthma than children in other regions of the country.
Akilah Jefferson, MD, MSc, is an Arkansas Children’s Research Institute researcher. Jefferson is also an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at UAMS College of Medicine.
Jefferson will use a $662,000, four-year award from the National Institutes of Health to research asthma in Arkansas children.
The UAMS Translational Research Institute is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.
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Jefferson often treats children with immune conditions and allergies, and she will be investigating factors like home environment, access to healthcare, the quality of healthcare, and more to determine how providers can help children in Arkansas who suffer from asthma.