Mechanisms of Acute Viral Respiratory Illness in Children (MAVRIC)

Investigators: Anthony Bosco, Anthony Kicic, Deborah Strickland, Ingrid Laing, Jonatan Leffler, Kak-Ming Ling, Kevin Looi, Peter Le Souef, Thomas Iosifidis, Yuliya Karpievitch

Team members: Franciska Prastanti, Kim Khoo, Laura Coleman, Rebecca Watkinson

Project description

Large numbers of children need emergency medical treatment each year for respiratory illnesses, particularly for wheezing and asthma. We are trying to understand why those particular children become so unwell. We have found that most of the children who present to hospital with an acute respiratory illness have a common respiratory virus and that the immune response of some children is an inappropriate response to the viral infection. We study children at the time of their illness and by collecting information and samples. These are then used in collaborative studies with researchers who have expertise in a variety of techniques including host genetics, airway cell culture, respiratory viral infection, immunology, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and detailed statistical analysis. We hope to be able to understand and predict why particular children are susceptible to respiratory exacerbations and develop new treatments which reduce the likelihood of them returning to hospital.

Collaborators

• James Gern (University of Wisconsin)
• Bill Cookson (Imperial College London)
• Klaus Bonnelykke (University of Copenhagen)
• David Smith (PathWest Laboratory Medicine)
• Chisha Sikazwe (PathWest Laboratory Medicine)
• Stacey Reinke (Edith Cowan University)