National Health and Medical Research Council

Asthma is a condition that narrows the airways to cause wheezing, breathlessness and chest tightness. Its causes and underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. Asthma is marked by chronic inflammation of the air passages, which tend to over-react by narrowing too easily and too much in response to a wide range of 'triggers', which may include house dust mites, pollen, infections, irritants such as tobacco smoke, and exercise. Although not a leading cause of mortality in Australia (0.24% of deaths in 2005), asthma causes a significant burden to the community of ill health and hospital use, particularly among children and young adults. Asthma is also more prevalent among Indigenous Australians than in the general population (16.5% versus 10.2% in 2004–05). [1]

NHMRC funding for asthma research

In the period 2004-09, NHMRC contributed over $89.4 million to Australian research into asthma.

Some NHMRC-funded research projects into asthma

Population prevalence and environmental/genetic predictors of food allergy in an infant cohort

Chief Investigator Associate Professor Katrina J Allen, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

This study will measure which children are at greatest risk of food allergy. We plan to recruit 5000 children to test for food allergies, as well as asking a range of questions on different lifestyle factors such as diet and history of allergies . If positive, participants will be invited to a hospital clinic for tests and treatment. This will allow us to describe the epidemiology of food allergy, and assist the development of better services for those with food allergy in the community.

NHMRC Project Grant

Understanding and controlling remodelling in pulmonary fibrosis and asthma

Chief Investigator Professor Alastair G Stewart, University of Melbourne

The development of scar tissue is a normal response to tissue injury. When airway and lung tissue is injured by exposure to irritants, scarring greatly diminishes the function of the lung to allow transfer of oxygen to the tissue. In severe disease, the scarring may be fatal. We discovered that two factors involved in formation of scar tissue neutralise each other's effects. We are examining this interaction in human lung to develop new treatments for scarring-related lung diseases.

NHMRC Project Grant

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma is a novel therapeutic target for inflammation and remodelling in asthma

Chief Investigator Dr Jane E Ward, University of Melbourne

Asthma affects over 2 million Australians with 300 deaths each year. Current drugs are not always effective. A new approach is to reduce the thickening and stiffening of the airway muscle found in asthma. Rosiglitazone, an antidiabetic drug in current use, inhibits growth of airway muscle in the test tube & chest tightening in a mouse model of asthma. Cells from asthmatics will be used to confirm these positive findings, and to support rapid clinical evaluation of this drug to benefit patients.

NHMRC Project Grant - Priming Grant (New Investigator)

The impact of outdoor aeroallergen exposure on asthma exacerbations in children and adolescents

Chief Investigator Dr Bircan Erbas, LaTrobe University

Asthma is a chronic condition usually diagnosed in childhood and an important public health concern. We do not fully understand what triggers an asthma attack, although outdoor pollen and moulds may be important. This project will establish the relative importance of pollen and moulds in triggering asthma attacks among Australian children, filling gaps in our knowledge of environmental triggers of asthma. Such knowledge will improve asthma management and ultimately public health.

NHMRC Project Grant

Sources

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2008. Australia’s health 2008. Cat. no. AUS 99. Canberra: AIHW.