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News & Events

Switch on the immune system early

Findings by Professor Pat Holt revealed researchers had been heading down the wrong path in their battle strategy against respiratory allergy and asthma.

News & Events

Overseas trip will help unlock the asthma puzzle

One in ten Australians have asthma and Dr Kimberley Wang from The Kids Research Institute Australia is on a mission to find out what causes it.

News & Events

Volunteers needed for world-first trial to prevent asthma

Australian scientists have today launched a world first research trial into a treatment that could prevent asthma in high risk children.

Research

Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) position statement on chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiectasis in children, adolescents and adults in Australia and New Zealand

This position statement, updated from the 2015 guidelines for managing Australian and New Zealand children/adolescents and adults with chronic suppurative lung disease (CSLD) and bronchiectasis, resulted from systematic literature searches by a multi-disciplinary team that included consumers.

Research

Childhood vaccination and allergy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

As the rise in prevalence of allergic diseases worldwide corresponds in time with increasing infant vaccination, it has been hypothesized that childhood vaccination may increase the risk of allergic disease. We aimed to synthesize the literature on the association between childhood vaccination and allergy.

Research

ACE2 expression is elevated in airway epithelial cells from older and male healthy individuals but reduced in asthma

COVID-19 is complicated by acute lung injury, and death in some individuals. It is caused by SARS-CoV-2 that requires the ACE2 receptor and serine proteases to enter AEC. We determined what factors are associated with ACE2 expression particularly in patients with asthma and COPD. We obtained lower AEC from 145 people from two independent cohorts, aged 2-89 years, Newcastle (n = 115) and Perth (n = 30), Australia. The Newcastle cohort was enriched with people with asthma (n = 37) and COPD (n = 38). Gene expression for ACE2 and other genes potentially associated with SARS-CoV-2 cell entry was assessed by qPCR, and protein expression was confirmed with immunohistochemistry on endobronchial biopsies and cultured AEC.

Research

Identifying pediatric lung disease: A comparison of forced oscillation technique outcomes

These findings suggest the utility of specific FOT outcomes is dependent on the respiratory disease being assessed

Research

Insights into respiratory disease through bioinformatics

Here, we review the basic concepts in bioinformatics and genomic data analysis and illustrate the application of these tools to further our understanding of lung diseases

Research

Basophil counts in PBMC populations during childhood acute wheeze/asthma are associated with future exacerbations

Our findings suggest that the proportion of degranulated basophils can also be associated with recurrent exacerbations