Research conducted using the ITM Data Commons suggests tree crown density may play a protective role in pediatric asthma exacerbations. This project originated with Dr. Julian Soloway, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Chicago, who observed the same children returning to the emergency room repeatedly with severe asthma attacks. His clinical experience led him to suspect that neighborhood conditions were contributing to poor outcomes.

His team used the ITM Data Commons to link clinical records from pediatric asthma patients on Chicago’s South Side with neighborhood-level data on housing conditions, air quality, proximity to pollution sites, tree canopy coverage, urban flooding, violent crime, and pharmacy access.

The data showed that children living in neighborhoods with greater green cover experienced fewer asthma exacerbations. Limited pharmacy access, substandard housing, and concentrated poverty were each associated with worse outcomes. The analysis also identified a cluster of census tracts bearing a disproportionate share of the burden, offering public health officials a concrete starting point for targeted intervention. Notably, the City of Chicago launched a tree canopy expansion initiative with the Our Roots Chicago initiative in 2022, focused on alleviating tree canopy sparsity and increasing the overall tree density in the city.

Clinical data alone could not have revealed these insights. By combining patient records with neighborhood-level environmental and social factors, the ITM Data Commons enabled researchers to go beyond tracking who was falling ill to uncovering why and identifying where intervention efforts could have the highest impact.

Questions? If you are interested in using the ITM Data Commons for your research, want to learn more about current research using the ITM Data Commons, or have any other questions about the ITM Data Commons, contact ITM Program Director Kat Bouzein at Kathryn.Bouzein@bsd.uchicago.edu.