A world-leading cystic fibrosis research program, based at The Kids Research Institute Australia, is a finalist in the 2015 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.
The Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team or AREST CF, a collaboration between centres in Perth and Melbourne, has been short-listed for the 2015 Scopus Eureka Prize for Excellence in International Scientific Collaboration.
AREST CF is a world leader in the assessment, treatment and prevention of cystic fibrosis lung disease in children.
The collaboration across Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Europe is acknowledged internationally as making significant progress in understanding the early pathobiology of cystic fibrosis lung disease.
Since 2005, the AREST CF team has collected longitudinal information, on 1400 children born with CF, the only data set of its kind in the world.
The image archive includes 1500 CT scans and the bio banks hold tens of thousands of lung tissue, DNA and blood samples.
"Our data and bio banks are the platforms that have facilitated collaborations with leading researchers around the world," said head of the AREST CF program, Professor Stephen Stick.
Using the resources, The AREST CF team has discovered novel ways to identify and treat lung disease very early, before it can cause the irreversible lung damage that claims lives.
"The data from our cohorts have demonstrated that lung disease occurs much earlier than previously thought, even within the first few months of life," Professor Steve Stick said. "By the time a child with CF reaches six years of age, most already have progressive lung disease."
"That means that most gains need to be made before children reach this age, if we are to effectively manage the condition for long term improvements."
Director of The Kids Research Institute Australia Professor Jonathan Carapetis said the AREST CF team is an outstanding example of international collaboration and the recognition as a finalist in the Eureka Prizes was well deserved.
"The work of the AREST CF Team has led to a paradigm shift in the way CF is treated around the world. In the past, clinicians simply treated and managed the symptoms of lung disease. Now they take a proactive approach to actually prevent lung disease from occurring in the first place," Professor Carapetis said.
"By preventing lung disease earlier in life, children with CF will live longer and more fulfilling lives."
The AREST CF team's immediate goal is to reduce lung disease at 6 years of age by 50 per cent. By doing that, they aim to extend the life expectancy of kids born with CF by 20 years.
AREST CF collaborators include The Kids Research Institute Australia, The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, James Cook University, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Erasmus MC, Heidelburg University, German Lung Research Centre, Heidelberg, The University of British Columbia, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Washington University in St Louis, the Genome Institute at Washington University and Indiana University.
More information about AREST CF can be found here.
More information about the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes can be found here.