Post Doctoral Fellow (1.0FTE) + Research Assistant (0.5FTE)
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2017
Equipment Grant
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2017
Project Grant
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2017
Project Grant
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2017
Fellowship
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2015
Project Grant
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2014
Project Grant
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2014
Project Grant
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2013
Project Grant
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2013
Project Grant
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2013
Project Grant
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2012
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2011
Project Grant
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2010
Project Grant
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2010
Project Grant
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2008
Project Grant
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2008
Project Grant
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2006
Project Grant
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2005
HMRI Award for Early Career Research
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I have always wanted to understand the mechanisms behind what happens in disease and why. Through this appreciation I want to be able to lead to changes that will matter for improving health.
I would love to solve the problem as to why people with asthma and COPD are susceptible to the effects of virus infection and correct this. I also want to find a way of predicting who with cystic fibrosis will lose lung function and prevent this from happening.
Professor Peter Wark is a senior staff specialist in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital, and a conjoint Professor with the University of Newcastle. In addition, he is Co-Director of the priority research centre for asthma and respiratory disease at the University of Newcastle and a member of the Vaccines Immunology Viruses and Asthma (VIVA) research group at HMRI.
Professor Wark was among the first to demonstrate that viral infection was the most common trigger for acute severe asthma in adults and showed that there was a direct link between viral infection and more severe acute disease. He then demonstrated that bronchial epithelial cells from asthmatics had a deficient innate immune response to infection with rhinovirus (the common cold) with reduced release of a key immune response molecule, interferon (IFN)-β. The seminal finding that asthma can be associated with impaired interferon responses to rhinovirus has led to an international randomised controlled trial of the effect of nebulised IFN-β on acute asthma.
More recently, Professor Wark has established a direct link between uncontrolled allergic inflammation and impaired antiviral responses in asthma. He has led a team that established an important role of innate epithelial cell responses to influenza and shown this to be impaired in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
In addition, he has been part of a team that has investigated the mechanisms behind the susceptibility of pregnant women to influenza and other viral infections and determined that a placental derived protein is responsible for impaired immune responses and exaggerated inflammatory responses. Finally, Professor Wark is currently investigating whether an inflammatory gene signature can be found in patients with cystic fibrosis that will predict loss of lung function.
My ultimate aim is to determine why patients with asthma and COPD are susceptible to infection with respiratory viruses and then find ways that will reverse this. Respiratory viruses are the most common reason for acute attacks of asthma and COPD from young children to the elderly. These acute attacks are responsible for considerable morbidity, may result in hospitalisation and even death.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most common life threatening genetic condition in Australia and affects many organs, including the lungs, pancreas, and the gastrointestinal tract. Although improved treatments have seen life expectancy significantly extended, the average life expectancy of a CF patient in Australia is still only 38. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new therapies tailored to individual CF patient mutations.
moreUssing chamber apparatus to measure barrier ion flux/permeability across multiple tissues in vitro. This includes 4xUSS5SD and USS4SD USSING SYSTEM W/DRAIN, with the EVC4000-4 PRECISION V/I CLAMP 4 CHANNEL voltage/current clamp, 505063 Circulating Water Bath 13L 230V 50HZ, and LAB-TRAX-4 DATA ACQUISITION SYS 4 CHANNEL.
moreAn acute exacerbation (also known as infection) is a critical event for a CF patient.
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