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Helga Mikkelsen

Project Manager, Respiratory Health

Directing immune development to curb sky-rocketing disease

Once upon a time it was infectious diseases like polio, measles or tuberculosis that most worried parents. With these threats now largely under control, parents face a new challenge – sky-rocketing rates of non-infectious diseases such as asthma, allergies and autism.

Regulating the Irregular: Phage Therapy and the Case for a Regulatory Sandbox Approach in Australia

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that selectively kill bacteria and offer a promising option to address the growing global pandemic of antimicrobial-resistant infections. However, phage therapy does not easily align with traditional regulatory pathways designed for fixed-composition chemical drugs or biologics with fixed non-evolving compositions.

Personal network inference identifies children at risk of recurrent wheezing and asthma

Wheezing and asthma exacerbations are leading causes of pediatric hospital admissions. Predicting which children will experience persistent exacerbations remains challenging. Prior research has identified immune endotypes in the nasal epithelium of children with acute asthma and wheezing, characterized by varying balances of interferons and inflammatory markers. Notably, children exhibiting low interferon responses coupled with high inflammation are at an increased risk for recurrent respiratory exacerbations.

Very preterm babies at risk of declining lung function throughout childhood

A The Kids Research Institute Australia study published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health has found that survivors of very preterm birth face declining lung function

Annual Community Lecture: You Are What You Breathe

Join us for our Annual Community Lecture entitled "You Are What You Breathe" with Professor Stephen Holgate.

Impact of lung disease on respiratory impedance in young children with cystic fibrosis

The present study investigated whether lung function measured by forced oscillation technique would be impaired in the presence of infection,...

Protocol for a study of the psychosocial determinants of health in early childhood among children with cystic fibrosis

This protocol outlines the study aims to investigate the causal effect of psychosocial functioning, parenting and attachment on physical health outcomes in...

Respiratory tract exacerbations revisited: Ventilation, inflammation, perfusion, and structure (VIPS) monitoring to redefine treatment

For cystic fibrosis (CF) patients older than 6 years there are convincing data that suggest respiratory tract exacerbations (RTE) play an important role in...

Matrix metalloproteinase activation by free neutrophil elastase contributes to bronchiectasis progression in early cystic fibrosis

The aim of this study was to assess if MMP activation positively correlates with neutrophil elastase activity, disease severity and bronchiectasis in young...