Patients for Damp Building Research
Patients pushing for public research on chronic illness from damp and water-damaged buildings.
Who We Are
We're an independent, patient-led group, open to patients, family members and supporters wherever they live. The group is coordinated by Natascha Vogel, a patient in British Columbia, Canada.
Why This Matters
Many people report chronic symptoms they link to damp and water-damaged buildings. They describe a pattern: symptoms flare with exposure to certain indoor air and ease away from it. Medicine can't yet explain that pattern or say what helps.People in the same building can be affected very differently. For the chronic illness patients describe, there are hypotheses about why, but no tested answers. In the meantime, many patients are dismissed by doctors and doubted by family.With no tested treatments, many pay out of pocket for whatever is on offer. Some report major improvement. Others spend a great deal and stay sick. Research could show what helps, and for whom.In September 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held a roundtable on mold. The panel of infectious disease experts, and the funding announced, focused on invasive fungal infection. But the chronic side kept coming up. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described his own family's illness from a mold-infested home. Dr. Peter Pappas of the University of Alabama at Birmingham said illness in people sick from mold exposure is not taught, poorly understood and poorly diagnosed. He called invasive disease the tip of the iceberg, with the rest submerged and not understood. CDC Director Erica Schwartz said more research is needed to understand which conditions may result from mold exposure.Kennedy closed by saying mold exposure should be one of the first questions asked of chronically ill patients. We agree, and doctors can't ask that question well until research tells them what to look for.
What's Already Known
Damp buildings affect health. The World Health Organization's 2009 guidelines on dampness and mold found sufficient evidence that people in damp or moldy buildings face a higher risk of respiratory symptoms, respiratory infections and worsening asthma.Laboratory research shows the immune system reacts to what's in these buildings. The same WHO review found inflammatory and toxic responses in laboratory and animal studies of microorganisms taken from damp buildings. Finnish researchers who study moisture-damaged buildings have shown that both molds and bacteria from them trigger inflammatory responses in immune cells. This is the innate immune system, the body's first line of defense, and the receptors it uses to recognize fungal and bacterial material are well described in immunology.Most of this research looks at short-term responses in cells, animals and the airways. What hasn't been tested is whether these responses explain the chronic, whole-body symptoms many patients describe, such as problems with sleep, thinking and digestion. That's one of the first questions we want to see researched.
What We're Working Toward
Public research funding for the chronic health effects of damp and water-damaged buildings. Our first step is a letter asking HHS for a follow-up roundtable focused on chronic exposure. Signatures open soon.
How We Work
We say clearly what's established, what's suspected and what hasn't been tested yet. An untested idea is a question for research, not a settled fact.We're independent. We take no money from anyone who sells testing, treatment, supplements or remediation to people with mold-related illness. We don't endorse practitioners, labs or products, and we don't give medical advice.Anyone made sick by damp buildings is welcome, whatever name they use for it.