Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma: the GA2LEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network) project

Spreading excellence in allergy and asthma: the GA 2 LEN (Global Allergy and Asthma European Network) project Allergic diseases and asthma pose an important and increasing problem for populations and health care systems around the world (1).European research groups have been at the forefront of investigations into the early life influences on the causes of these conditions and management of allergy and asthma (2, 3).Moreover, initiatives from the European Commission have led to a greater collaboration between the European countries and beyond in tackling these problems.It has been shown to be both practical and rewarding to exploit the wide variations in culture, environment and health care systems within Europe to study these issues (4).Collaborative projects such as the European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS), the International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC), and many other, funded by the European Commission, have clearly demonstrated the ability and advantages of European groups working together (1, 5, 6).Although allergy and asthma represent a burden in all countries and regions in Europe there is still a lack of permanent structures to support this type of work.The collaboration between European groups so far has often had a relatively narrow methodological focus and has therefore produced only short-term collaborations without a formal enduring structure.The basic idea of the European Research Area (ERA) is that the aims and goals of future research cannot be met without much greater ÔintegrationÕ of Europe's research efforts and capacities.The sixth framework programme is a key instrument of ERA with a budget of 17 500 million.For this reason the sixth framework programme introduces new instruments like networks of excellence from which joint strategies can be developed.These networks have clearly defined thematic objectives and will be directed towards advancing scientific and technological knowledge, within medium-to long-term time-frames (7, 8).