Respiratory Medicine

The Respiratory Medicine theme includes clinical academics and lab-based scientists with a strong focus on translational respiratory research (asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and acute respiratory distress syndrome) with programmes in investigator-led pre-clinical development and integrated collaboration in Phase I, Phase II and Phase III clinical trials. These are a combination of investigator initiated and collaborative studies with the pharmaceutical industry. Another focus of our clinical research is to define robust criteria of quality and assessment of outcomes in clinical trials. Complementing the clinical research, there is a focus on providing mechanistic insights into the molecular and cellular events underlying these diseases. This more fundamental research programme exploits the samples and results of our on-going clinical research. Landmark discoveries include uncovering how the innate immune response becomes dysregulated during excessive lung inflammation as a result of elevated protease activity, the role of lung microbiome in cystic fibrosis, and the description of several biomarkers associated with asthma. This fundamental research has informed further pre-clinical research investigating the potential therapeutic use of anti-protease inhibitors to alleviate lung inflammation, and mesenchymal stem cells to mitigate lung injury.