Medical Research

What are your research interests?

My research interests focus on asthma in pregnant women. My research is trialling new approaches to the management and treatment of asthma during pregnancy, with a focus on reducing the rate of asthma exacerbations in pregnancy, and improving health outcomes for the baby. I am also interested in the long term impacts of novel approaches to asthma management in pregnancy and, in particular, whether adjusting treatment based on lung inflammation is an effective prevention strategy for asthma in childhood. 

Why did you get into research?

I have had asthma myself for as long as I can remember, and I have developed a passion for conducting research during pregnancy. This is such a pivotal time of life both for mothers and for their children, as events in pregnancy can have life-long consequences. As a mother myself, I am driven to understand how events in early life can shape lifelong health. 

What would be the ultimate goal for your research?

My goal is for my research to provide the evidence that is needed to change clinical practice, and ultimately to improve the health of pregnant women with asthma, and their babies, so that fewer children develop asthma in childhood. 

Biography

Associate Professor Vanessa Murphy is a research scientist investigating the characteristics, mechanisms and consequences of asthma exacerbations during pregnancy and their health impact on both mother and baby. 

Associate Professor Murphy’s research identified that active asthma management which lowers the exacerbation rate in pregnancy may also improve infant outcomes such as bronchiolitis. She is currently conducting a large multi-centre clinical trial to determine the effect of using lung inflammation to guide treatment decisions on perinatal and infant health. This trial has the potential to change clinical practice, and to demonstrate a primary prevention strategy for childhood asthma, among a group of high risk infants. Associate Professor Murphy has worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) since 2004. 

She has a strong publication record in high quality international journals, in both the Respiratory and Obstetric fields, with over 50 peer-reviewed publications, and total grant earnings over $4.5 million. She collaborates across several disciplines including paediatrics, neonatology, midwifery, psychology and basic sciences. She has an emerging international reputation in her field, having been invited to speak at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Amsterdam in 2011.

In 2012, she was appointed a member of the Asthma and Pregnancy Working Group by the National Asthma Council for the production of the Australian Asthma Handbook. In 2014, she received three invitations to speak, at the Westmead International Update on Advances in Perinatal Care, the Hunter Postgraduate Medical Institute Weekend and at the Newcastle Asthma Meeting.

In 2013 she won an Achievement in Research Award from the Hunter Children’s Research Foundation, and in 2014 had a publication recognised as the best original research paper published in Respirology. She has been collaborating with the world leader in the field of asthma during pregnancy (Professor Michael Schatz) since 2007, and this has resulted in 6 publications to date, including a co-authored invited review.

Her research is informing practice by its inclusion in information papers and guideline documents, such as “Asthma and Healthy Living: An information paper for health professionals” (2013, National Asthma Council of Australia, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing) and the Australian Asthma Handbook (2014), where 9 of her publications were cited in the section on pregnancy (asthma advice, asthma care and flare-ups). 

Her career goal is to become an independent, internationally recognised research scientist investigating asthma in pregnancy and its impact on children’s health and to conduct research which will change clinical practice, and reduce the rate of asthma in childhood.

Future Focus

My future focus is to determine whether interventions which improve asthma during pregnancy can result in fewer children developing asthma.  

Specialised/Technical Skills

• Randomised controlled trials
• Systematic review
• Meta-analysis

Affiliations

• HMRI Asthma and Breathing Research Program
• Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs
• Priority Research Centre for Grow Up Well
• Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
• The Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand.