Asthma clinical research network: Lessons learned

The Asthma Clinical Research Network was created by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to improve public health by rapidly evaluating novel and existing therapeutic approaches to asthma. The multicenter clinical research network has greatly contributed to the healthcare community's understanding of asthma by conducting clinical trials independent of the pharmaceutical industry. The following manuscript reviews the experimental design and major findings of noteworthy studies performed in this network. All of the network's publications were reviewed, and 19 were selected for summary. As shown in these publications, the research performed by the Asthma Clinical Research Network has produced significant data with important implications that should impact the way the healthcare community treats asthma at the present time.