News

Check out what we have been up to this year!

Read the Respirology invited review series: Treatable traits—personalised medicine for life in airway disease
Series Editors: Vanessa McDonald and Peter Gibson

In January 2024, Professor James Hull, PhD, FACSM, FRCP, a consultant respiratory physician and the lead for the unexplained breathlessness service at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK, visited the Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits.

The investigators and fellows of the Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits have been successful in obtaining approximately $5 million dollars in MRFF funding for Treatable Traits focused research.

Congratulations to Professor Peter Gibson who was awarded an investigator grant from the NHRMC to the value of $2,553,040

Read all about what we have been up in our latest newsletter

Check out what we have been up to for the last 6 months!

Landscape fires are increasing in frequency and severity globally. They cause large health and socioeconomic burden for communities and governments. People with asthma are particularly vulnerable to the effects of landscape fire smoke exposure. The Asthma and Landscape Fire Smoke position statement of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand outlines key recommendations and mitigation strategies for people with asthma.

People with asthma are invited to take part in a research study which explores the views of people living with asthma on digital asthma care platforms

The Australian Mepolizumab Registry for Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps (AMR-CRSwNP) is an investigator-initiated database study designed to monitor and report on real-world outcomes in patients receiving mepolizumab treatment for their severe CRSwNP.

Last week we were fortunate enough to have our Centre collaborators from Monash University and Asthma Australia join us for a face-to-face meeting in Newcastle.

Recently Centre Director Prof Vanessa McDonald attended the parliamentary launch of the National Asthma Research agenda. This work was commissioned by Asthma Australia and was led by Centre Co-director Professor Peter Gibson as the senior researcher, and first author and  Dr Eleanor Majellano.

Congratulations to Professor Peter Gibson- who was announced as one of the Lung Foundation's Lung Health Legend Award Winners! These awards recognise individuals who have contributed over a substantial period of time to advancing Lung Foundation Australia’s Mission and Vision.

We are excited to announce the successful award of two MRFF grants of over $4.2 Million to advance Treatable Traits research for people with asthma

Check out some of the highlights from our Centre for the period of July to December 2022

Three of our Centre investigators Prof Vanessa McDonald, Prof Peter Gibson and Prof Alvar Agusti have collaborated to review the current state of Treatable Traits discuss how to best implement it in clinical practice

We have developed an infographic to help guide the implementation of Treatable Traits across different settings.

Launched in Canberra on Thursday, 16th March 2023, to support these mothers and their babies is our Breathe Well for Your Baby Program

Dr Hayley Lewthwaite is an accredited exercise physiologist and early career researcher. For the last two years Hayley has been working as a lecturer in clinical exercise physiology at the University of Newcastle Ourimbah campus.

The Centre held two INNOVATE workshops in the last few months. The purpose of the INNOVATE workshops is to build capacity in research for early-mid career researchers (EMCRs), to facilitate the development of collaborations and to promote research excellence through the development of inter and multidisciplinary research teams.

The asthmapregnancytoolkit.org.au was launched on the evening of the 1st of December with a presentation at HMRI and live Zoom screening.

Joice is a physiotherapist from Brazil undertaking a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the Pitágoras-Unopar University and is a member of the Laboratory of Research in Respiratory Physiotherapy (LFIP) at State University of Londrina (UEL). Joice has joined our Centre for a period of 10 months to gain valuable research experience and establish collaborations!

The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand hosted their Education Hub on the 14th-15th October in Sydney.

On the 4th of November, the Centre held a Roundtable on Landscape fires and smoke exposure. The objective of the roundtable discussion was to convene a group of experts to discuss the health impact of prolonged landscape fire smoke exposure on people with asthma and to develop a research and implementation plan

Dr John Politis, Professor Phillip Bardin and Dr John Blakey authored a recent publication in “Respiratory Medicine Today” on Oral Corticosteroid Stewardship in Asthma: An Urgent Issue.
The article highlights that while oral corticosteroid therapy for asthma can be highly effective, overuse leads to irreversible harm.

Oral corticosteroids are associated with significant adverse effects and increased morbidity, however they are a cornerstone for the management of acute asthma attacks and some people require regular maintenance oral corticosteroids. An increased understanding of the heterogeneity of asthma, and improved access to monoclonal antibody therapy presents an opportunity to minimise oral corticosteroids use in people with asthma. This impact case study provides an overview of the work that has been generated through the Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits around reducing oral corticosteroid use in asthma.

Check out some of the highlights from our Centre in the period of January to June 2022

A/Prof Vanessa Murphy was recently awarded a 2-year Healthy Canberra Grant ‘Breathe Life for You and Your Baby’, to promote asthma in pregnancy management messages in a public awareness campaign across the ACT in partnership with Asthma Australia and Prof Michael Peek from the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children in Canberra.

We have developed a new infographic to provide information about the relationship between asthma and stress. Stress is the reaction to a potentially threatening or demanding situation, which can be acute or chronic. People report that stress triggers their asthma and this has been linked to poor asthma prognosis

This review, published in the European Respiratory Journal, Open Research, provides an overview of the successful tertiary care multidisciplinary respiratory service that operates in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, which has been integrated into the tertiary care outpatient clinics for almost three decades

Professor Holland was awarded the ERS Mid-Career Gold Medal for Allied Health Professionals in recognition of her potential for further outstanding research within a field of the allied health professions

We have developed a new infographic that provides useful information on "Chronic Breathlessness Syndrome". Chronic breathlessness is complex, while commonly caused by chronic lung conditions, there are many other underlying contributing factors. Chronic breathlessness often persists despite treatment of these underlying conditions.

Welcome to the first annual report of the NHMRC Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits. The Centre began operation in October 2020 after we received five years of funding from the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence Scheme, with the official launch held in April 2021.

This World Asthma Day we want you to share your experiences with oral corticosteroids. To understand your experience, we’re asking you to complete a short survey.

Professor Anne Holland has been elected to the position of President Elect for the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand

Congratulations to Professor Vanessa McDonald for being awarded the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand’s “50th Anniversary Medal for Education and Training”.

We have developed a new infographic on "Oral Corticosteroid Burden". Serious adverse effects of OCS can occur after lifetime cumulative doses as low as 500-1000mg.

We have recently published a new letter to the editor about defining "super responders" from a patient perspective. “Nothing about us without us” — What matters to patients with severe asthma?

We have developed a new infographic on "Airflow Limitation". Airflow Limitation means that the flow of air through the airways is impaired.

Congratulation to our Asthma and Pregnancy lead, Vanessa Murphy, on her promotion to Associate Professor!

Based on consumer, clinician and researcher input, this paper reports a proposed consensus-based minimum set of important outcomes to be used in future research studies on acute attacks or exacerbation management, to improve their quality and comparability

The Virtual Model of Antenatal Asthma Care (VMAC) study evaluates the suitability of 2 types of asthma care in pregnancy. 1) virtual (tele/video conferencing) and 2) face-to-face (in person).

The Centre team has been busy during the last few months, including hosting our first INNOVATE workshop and welcoming two new PhD students. Find out what else we have been up to!

Congratulations to the Centre director Professor Vanessa McDonald, who was recently announced the winner of the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) 2021 Award for Mid-Career Research!

Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are an effective treatment for acute and chronic severe asthma. However the indiscriminate use of OCS poses a risk of serious side effects and irreversible harm. There is an urgent need to introduce OCS stewardship approaches. 

In July 2021 the Centre held its first INNOVATE workshop. The purpose of the INNOVATE workshops is to build capacity in research for early-mid career researchers (EMCRs), facilitate the development of collaborations and promote research excellence through the development of inter-and multidisciplinary research teams.

The official launch event for the Centre of Excellence in Treatable Traits was held on 29th April 2021.