Michael Tunney

The Halo Research Group is a multidisciplinary research group based at the School of Pharmacy. The group is jointly led by Professor Michael Tunney, from the School of Pharmacy and Professor Stuart Elborn, from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s. Their laboratory is a world class centre of excellence which aims to develop the next generation of treatments, diagnostic tools and standards of care in order to alleviate or cure respiratory infection.

Their multidisciplinary team of research staff includes pharmacists, microbiologists and other clinicians. All are dedicated to working together to push the boundaries of scientific and clinical discovery. Their goal is to translate these advances into new clinical and therapeutic approaches that will ultimately improve the lives of patients with CF and other respiratory diseases.

Research focuses primarily on the improved detection and treatment of lung infection in patients with respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF), non-CF bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Using a combination of specialist microbiology techniques and DNA fingerprinting methods, Michael and his team have identified that a much wider range of bacteria may cause respiratory infection in patients with these diseases than was previously thought. 61 They have also discovered that bacteria which do not require oxygen to live may be present in the airways. The team’s current research programme is designed to:

• Establish the role of these organisms in causing infection and damage in the lungs of patients with respiratory disease
• Determine why these bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics used to treat infection
• Evaluate the efficacy of antibiotics and other agents under low oxygen conditions which mimic conditions in the lung and;
• Examine whether changes in antibiotic treatment to target a wider range of bacteria present in the lungs result in improved clinical outcomes for patients

The group are also leading a €50 million, 5-year Europe-wide, project to develop new drugs that could improve the lives of patients with CF and bronchiectasis. The iABC (inhaled Antibiotics in Bronchiectasis and Cystic Fibrosis) consortium, which is made up of industry partners Novartis and Basilea and world-leading lung specialists from across Europe, will develop new ‘inhaled antibiotics’ to manage chronic lung infection, the main cause of disease and death in patients with these conditions.

RESEARCH PARTNERS

• University of Michigan
• Innovative Medicines Initiative
• University Hospital Heidelberg
• Aix-Marseille University
• University of Naples Federico II
• Basilea Pharmaceutica
• Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• Seventh Framework Programme
• Health and Social Care Board Public Health Agency – Research and Development
• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
• Leibniz University of Hanover
• Novartis
• Stragen Pharma
• Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
• Randox
• National Health Service National Institute for Health Research
• Queensland Institute of Medical Research
• Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
• University College Cort
• University of Washington
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council