Research Interests

We have focused upon the inflammatory process and its regulation as it so fundamental to diseases not only of the lung, but also many other organs. The issue of control of the inflammatory response has wide implications for asthma, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and we have focused our research on the latter two.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the most extreme form of acute lung injury, continues to have a significant mortality of nearly 50%.  It also has a significant economic burden causing as many deaths annually as emphysema and HIV infection in the developed world.  There is currently no cure for ARDS and treatment is merely supportive and designed to try to reduce further injury.  We have preliminary data to suggest that a chemical called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has a key role in possible recovery from this form of lung injury.  VEGF levels in the lung fall dramatically in ARDS, but rise during recovery, and preliminary data also suggests changes in the genes controlling VEGF may influence susceptibility to developing ARDS.  We hope to better understand the mechanisms by which VEGF is protective in this setting, which may lead to a successful therapy for ARDS in the future.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) occurs because the normal defence mechanisms are out of control and instead of protecting the lung they actually cause damage.  There is currently no curative treatment for IPF.  We have preliminary data to show that a chemical called tumour necrosis factor (TNF) plays a key role in controlling this response under the influence of an enzyme (TACE), which releases TNF from the cell surface. TACE appears to be increased in patients with IPF. We hope to elucidate the relationship between TNF and TACE, which may lead to a successful therapy for IPF in the future.