New Approaches for Empowering Studies of Asthma in Populations of African Descent

Exclusion Criteria

• •First degree relative of enrolled study participant (as determined through responses to a screening questionnaire to question on participation of parents, siblings, or half-siblings)
• •Current and active smoker
• •History of: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic obstructive airway disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, lung transplant, kyphoscoliosis, sarcoidosis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn s disease, psoriasis, carcinoma of the lung, ciliary dyskinesia, lupus, or active tuberculosis
• •Having any medical illnesses that would increase the risk that the participant would incur by participating in the study, interfere with the outcomes of the study, or interfere with the study procedures (evaluated using Spirometry Screener.)
• •Current or previous COVID-19 infection
• •Pregnant women: while study procedures are all minimal risk, the inclusion of pregnant women is not necessary to address the research questions. Additionally, pregnancy may affect some of our parameters of interest (particularly gene expression) in unpredictable ways and the size of the growing fetus may introduce mechanical challenges to optimal performance of pulmonary function tests at later stages of pregnancy. Exclusion will be based on self-report during screening.