Divisional Summary
The Divisional activities centered around three main themes:
a. Studies on the mechanisms underlying the development of asthma, both in our cohort studies and mechanistic studies in laboratory animals. These studies are largely conducted as part of the Asthma Program grant and NHMRC project grants and involve collaboration between the teams headed by the Program grant PIs: Peter Sly (Clinical Sciences), Pat Holt (Cell Biology); Wayne Thomas (Molecular Biotechnology), Peter Le Souef (UWA School of Paediatrics and Child Health), Steve Stick (Clinical Sciences and PMH Department of Respiratory Medicine), John Upham (Cell Biology) and Phil Stumbles (Cell Biology and Murdoch University). Details of these studies can be found in the sections on Respiratory Physiology and Clinical Asthma Studies.
b. The Global Prevention of Asthma in Children (GPAC) study is funded by the Immune tolerance Network and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA and uses oral mucosal immunoprophylaxis (hence forth known as OMIP). This project represents a major collaborative venture between Peter Sly and Pat Holt (Cell Biology). Clinical sites recruiting children are in Perth, Melbourne (Royal Children’s Hospital) and New York (Mt. Sinai Hospital). Further details can be obtained from the Division of Cell Biology report.
This project, funded largely by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Trust, USA, combines the data collected from the Clinically-directed disease surveillance program conducted by the Department of Respiratory Medicine, PHM with the research conducted within Clinical Sciences. The Program is coordinated by Dr. Siobhain Brennan and is run as a collaboration between the Perth Centre (Clinical Sciences and Respiratory Medicine) and the CF clinic at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. This primary aims of this project are to translate research findings into improved clinical care for you children with CF and to determine optimal outcome variables for clinical intervention trails.
The Division of Clinical Sciences is designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research on Children’s Environmental Health in July for an initial period of four years. We are very proud to be one of only two Centres worldwide to include Children’s Environmental Health in their designation. The main aims of the Centre are:
a. To conduct high quality research aimed at understanding the mechanisms underlying the developmental origin of environmental origin in children, with a special emphasis on respiratory diseases.
b. To build the research capacity of researchers and health care professionals by providing access to high quality education and training.
c. To develop programs and curricula to increase awareness about environmental threats, with special emphasis on respiratory diseases, asthma and allergies in children.
d. To develop methods for translating research findings into public policy and intervention strategies.
The Centre is housed in the Division of Clinical Sciences and affiliated with Curtin University through the Department of Public Health, Division of Health Sciences. The initial Centre staff include: Peter Sly (Director), Felicity Flack (Executive Officer), Merci Kusel (Cohort Studies), Peter Franklin (Environment), Leith Sly (Education and Training), Steve Zubrick (Policy and Planning) and Sue Phillips (Administration). One notable achievement is the development of a Graduate Certificate in Children’s Environmental Health, the first such course of its kind anywhere.
