The Asthma and Breathing Research Program - HMRI

27/08/2025

26/08/2025

Well done to PhD student Rejoy Sabin Thomas for presenting at the University of Newcastle HDR Festival today 👏 We can't wait to see more of your PhD journey!

https://www.newcastle.edu.au/events/research-and-innovation/2025-hdr-student-festival

22/08/2025

13/08/2025

Happy National Science Week! 🔬🧪🧬

This week we’re celebrating all things science, including our scientists! 👏

Members of our research program come from a range of science/health-related backgrounds, including: medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech pathology, physiology, cellular & molecular biology, epidemiology, chemistry, microbiology and psychology (plus more!).

📷 a few of our program members enjoying the breakfast ☕️

06/08/2025

Last week, our ABRP members got together for our mid-year meeting. 🎉 We had a great time catching up and celebrating success! 🥳

A highlight of the meeting was hearing the latest updates regarding our current MRFF and NHMRC Ideas projects. 🎯

These were followed by rapid-fire publication updates, which showcase the variety of research studies our program members are involved in. 📊 Studies investigating aspects of asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis and chronic cough were presented. 🔬

👏 Congratulations all! 👏

📷 Prof Vanessa Murphy and Dr Michael Fricker presenting some recent work.

24/07/2025

With World Bronchiectasis Day falling this month, here is some neat little clips from my (Andrew Reid's) work as part of the Asthma and Breathing team at the HMRI. These videos show a top down view of the motile cilia beating (top panels and at 1/10 speed) and show the distinct lack of motile ciliated cells we observe in cells from bronchiectasis donors. This results in a much slower clearance of particles taken using time-lapse fluorescence microscopy (bottom) which is a surrogate measure of mucociliary clearance, the mechanism that clears your lungs of baddies.

24/07/2025

For decades, asthma treatment has focused on the lungs - inhalers, steroids, managing inflammation. But groundbreaking research shows we've been missing the bigger picture.

The newly developed MiDAS tool (Multimorbidity in Difficult Asthma Score) evaluates seven key conditions that people with difficult asthma often struggle with including obesity, sleep apnoea, and reflux. These aren't just side issues - they're actively making asthma worse.

Co-led by The University of Newcastle, Australia Professor Vanessa McDonald, director of HMRI's Asthma and Breathing Program, this international research tested thousands of patients with consistently better outcomes when treating asthma holistically.

MiDAS empowers doctors to deliver complete, individualised care that addresses root causes alongside symptoms, and is leading to better outcomes for asthma patients globally.

Learn more about MiDAS and the study:
https://okt.to/EsONkA

02/07/2025

In recognition of World Bronchiectasis day (1st July), here are a couple of pretty pictures of one of the most important tissue types often dysregulated in patients with bronchiectasis, the airway epithelium. We have been investigating how a 'compromised' airway epithelium can contribute to bronchiectasis, particularly with regard to the cells that regulate mucociliary clearance, the normal process that removes mucus from the lung. One of these cell types, motile ciliated cells act like tiny brooms to sweep the mucus out of your lung and we routinely find fewer of them within our differentiated air-liquid interface cultures of bronchial epithelial cells from bronchiectasis patients (pictured). Cilia have been labelled in RED, cell cytoskeleton in GREEN and cell nuclei in BLUE. Courtesy of Asthma and Breathing Post-doc Andrew Reid

26/06/2025

Inhalers are a key part of good asthma management in pregnancy. You have two major categories of inhaler, which are both safe to use during pregnancy.
Preventers: usually either an inhaled corticosteroid, or a combined therapy. These typically require a prescription from your doctor to purchase.
Relievers: Known in the medical world as 'SABA's', or 'Short-Acting-Beta-Agonists'. These are typically your over the counter blue puffers.

It is always safest for you and your baby to continue using your regular inhalers even when pregnant. We can help you better manage your asthma during your pregnancy, especially if you experience worsening symptoms.



Asthma in Pregnancy Toolkit TTAP Asthma in Pregnancy

23/06/2025

...Read More... from Puffer and Spacer

23/06/2025

June 23 is International Women in Engineering day, and we want to give a shoutout to our Biomedical Engineer and Medical Scientist, Kirsten Murray. Kirsten has a particular interest in research, design, and testing of medical devices and software. She completed her PhD in device manufacture for the regeneration and repair of spinal tissues. She is currently the trial coordinator for the DIGITAL TEAM study, where her skills will help to develop digital platforms for asthma self-management.