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Carolyn is a PhD student in the Airway Physiological Research Laboratory at The University of Western Australia. Her research journey began at the Centre for Orthopaedic Research where she received a First Class Honours exploring the effects of mechanical stimulation on tendon regeneration. From there she moved into the respiratory field, where her work as a Research Assistant explored the effects of intrauterine growth restriction on postnatal respiratory outcomes. Having developed a keen interest for respiratory research, she began her PhD journey exploring the mechanisms underlying the association between asthma and obesity. Carolyn’s PhD project focuses on the role of airway-associated adipose tissue in comorbid asthma-obesity, and whether it has potential as a therapeutic target.
Peter Van Asperen Career Development Scholarship
Given the novel discovery of airway-associated adipose tissue, its role in comorbid asthma-obesity is unknown. This grant will contribute funding to Carolyn’s study, which will be the first to measure airway-associated adipose tissue in a mouse model of obesity. Understanding the role of airway-associated adipose tissue may lead to more targeted therapies to improve outcomes for patients with comorbid asthma-obesity.
Carolyn will use the Peter Van Asperen Career Development Grant to contribute to consumables for the research project, which will be her first grant as a Chief Investigator.
Olivia is a current PhD student at the University of Newcastle working to understand how female sex hormones influence asthma symptoms and severity through the manipulation of cellular metabolic pathways (ie the energy generating pathways used by cells to function). Using a complementary approach to her research that bridges discovery and clinical respiratory science, Olivia is striving novel work in the endocrine and cellular metabolism space that fosters unique collaborations and drives cutting-edge investigations. Olivia hopes that her research will contribute to an improved understanding of asthma pathogenesis in problematic patient cohorts, such as obesity-associated severe asthma, which disproportionately affects women.
Peter Van Asperen Career Development Scholarship
Growing clinical and experimental evidence highlight a gender bias in asthma, with an unfair skewing towards women. However, whilst an association between female sex hormone levels and asthma is appreciated, our knowledge about the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship is limited.
Excitingly, experiments conducted as part of Olivia’s PhD studies have shown that changes in experimental asthma outcomes, mediated by female sex hormones, are associated with changes in key cellular metabolic pathways. For the first time in the field of asthma research, we have shown a novel relationship between female sex hormones, cellular metabolism, and the pathogenesis of asthma. Understanding how cellular metabolic mechanisms and inflammatory responses change in response to female hormone levels in asthma, may offer a personal approach to treatment for female asthmatic patients – tailoring therapeutics to reflect a patient’s menstrual cycle and associated immune responses.
Olivia will use the Peter Van Asperen Career Development Grant to build her research profile and engage with other researchers in the field. The grant will be used for:
- Publication fees for a research paper (in preparation): Female sex hormone-mediated effects on cellular metabolism-mediated inflammatory responses in asthma.
- Attendance at the 2022 TSANZ annual meeting, where she has been selected for an oral presentation and nominated for the Anne Woolcock New Investigator award.
Dr. Henry Gomez is an early-career postdoctoral researcher in the Infection and Inflammation-Induced Diseases Research Group based at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) and the University of Newcastle. Dr. Gomez was awarded his PhD in Immunology and Microbiology in 2020. His research focus is on the developmental origins of health and disease. His research investigates the role of environmental influences during pregnancy and in early life such as diet, air pollution and cigarette smoking, and the resultant predisposition of children to develop asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, and susceptibility to respiratory viral infections.
Peter Van Asperen Career Development Scholarship
Landscape fire (LSF) smoke is becoming an increasingly prominent health hazard worldwide with large amounts of land burned in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Russia, and Australia. Particulate matter (PM) exposure, such as found in landscape fire smoke, is positively associated with asthma exacerbations, and this relationship is prominent in at-risk populations such as those suffering from severe forms of asthma and children.
No studies have identified the mechanisms underpinning how particulate matter induces asthma exacerbations. Henry has identified the need and driven the development of highly representative in vivo models of LSF smoke exposure that recapitulate respiratory morbidities observed during LSF events. These in vivo models may be used to investigate the mechanisms underpinning features of disease that cannot be investigated in the clinical setting.
Henry will use the Peter Van Asperen Career Development Grant to support his attendance at the European Respiratory Society International Congress (Barcelona, Spain), which will allow him to present his research to an international audience and facilitate collaborations with other researchers and stakeholders.