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From MASK-air and SILAM to CATALYSE (Climate Action To Advance HeaLthY Societies in Europe)

Sousa-Pinto B1,2*, Palamarchuk Y3*, Leemann L4, Jankin S5, Basagaña X6,7,8,9, Ballester J6, Bedbrook A10, Czarlewski W10,11, Almeida R1,2,11, Haahtela T12, Haveri H13, Prass M14,15, Henriques T1,2, Vieira RJ1,2, Klimek L16,17, Ollert M18,19,20, Shamji MH21,22, Jutel M23,24, Del Giacco S25, Torres MJ26, Zuberbier T27,28, Fonseca JA1,2**, Sofiev M3**, Anto JM6,8,9**, Bousquet J10,27,28,29**

1MEDCIDS - Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
2CINTESIS@RISE - Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Health Research Network, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
3Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Helsinki, Finland
4Department of Political Science, University of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
5Data Science Lab, Hertie School, Berlin, Germany
6ISGlobal, Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain
7IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
8Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
9CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
10MASK-air SAS, Montpellier, France
11Medical Consulting Czarlewski, Levallois, France
12Skin and Allergy Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
13Health and Hospital Care Services, Wellbeing services county of Päijät-Häme, Lahti, Finland
14Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Lahti, Finland
15Coordination Unit, Lahti University Campus, Lahti, Finland
16Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universitätsmedizin Mainz, Germany
17Center for Rhinology and Allergology, Wiesbaden, Germany
18Department of Infection and Immunity, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
19Odense Research Center for Anaphylaxis (ORCA), Odense, Denmark
20Department of Dermatology and Allergy Center, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
21National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, UK
22NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
23Department of Clinical Immunology, Wrocław Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland
24ALL-MED Medical Research Institute, Wroclaw, Poland
25Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health and Unit of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University Hospital "Duilio Casula", University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
26Allergy Unit, Regional University Hospital of Malaga, Malaga University, ARADyAL, Malaga, Spain
27Institute of Allergology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
28Fraunhofer Institute for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology ITMP, Allergology and Immunology, Berlin, Germany
29University Hospital Montpellier, Montpellier, France
*The first 2 authors contributed equally to the paper
**The last 4 authors contributed equally to the paper

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2024; Vol 34(1) : 12-19
doi: 10.18176/jiaci.0923

Plant species vary under different climatic conditions and the distribution of pollen in the air. Trends in pollen distribution can be used to assess the impact of climate change on public health. In 2015, the Mobile Airways Sentinel networK for rhinitis and asthma (MASK-air®) was launched as a project of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-on-AHA, DG Santé and DG CONNECT). This project aimed to develop a warning system to inform patients about the onset of the pollen season, namely, the System for Integrated modeLling of Atmospheric coMposition (SILAM). A global-to-meso–scale dispersion model was developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI). It provides quantitative information on atmospheric pollution of anthropogenic and natural origins, particularly on allergenic pollens. Impact of Air Pollution on Asthma and Rhinitis (POLLAR, EIT Health) has combined MASK-air clinical data with SILAM forecasts. A new Horizon Europe grant (Climate Action to Advance HeaLthY Societies in Europe [CATALYSE]; grant agreement number 101057131), which came into force in September 2022, aims to improve our understanding of climate change and help us find ways to counteractit. One objective of this project is to develop early warning systems and predictive models to improve the effectiveness of strategies for adapting to climate change. One of the warning systems is focused on allergic rhinitis (CATALYSE Task 3.2), with a collaboration between the FMI (Finland), Porto University (Portugal), MASK-air SAS (France), ISGlobal (Spain), Hertie School (Germany), and the University of Zurich (Switzerland). It is to be implemented with the support of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. This paper reports the planning of CATALYSE Task 3.2. 

Key words: CATALYSE, MASK-air, SILAM, Pollen, Climate change