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Anya Deborah Pat Jones Strickland Holt BSc MSc PhD PhD PhD, DSc, FRCPath, FRCPI, FAA Honorary Research Associate Head, Pregnancy and Early Life

Alexander Anthony Deborah Emma Pat Larcombe Kicic Strickland de Jong Holt BScEnv (Hons) PhD BSc (Hons) PhD PhD PhD, DSc, FRCPath, FRCPI, FAA Honorary

Honorary Research Associate

Human rhinovirus (RV)-induced exacerbations of asthma and wheeze are a major cause of emergency room presentations and hospital admissions among children. Previous studies have shown that immune response patterns during these exacerbations are heterogeneous and are characterized by the presence or absence of robust interferon responses.

Immunotherapy has revolutionised the treatment of cancers by exploiting the immune system to eliminate tumour cells. Despite the impressive response in a proportion of patients, clinical benefit has been limited thus far.

Results from recent clinical studies suggest potential efficacy of immune training (IT)-based approaches for protection against severe lower respiratory tract infections in infants, but underlying mechanisms are unclear.

The immunological changes underpinning acquisition of remission (also called sustained unresponsiveness) following food immunotherapy remain poorly defined. Limited access to effective therapies and biosamples from treatment responders has prevented progress. Probiotic peanut oral immunotherapy is highly effective at inducing remission, providing an opportunity to investigate immune changes.

High risk for virus-induced asthma exacerbations in children is associated with an IRF7lo immunophenotype, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we applied a Systems Biology approach to an animal model comprising rat strains manifesting high versus low susceptibility to experimental asthma, induced by virus/allergen coexposure, to elucidate the mechanism(s)-of-action of the high-risk asthma immunophenotype.

Anaphylaxis is a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction driven primarily by the activation of mast cells. We still fail to understand factors underlying reaction severity. Furthermore, there is currently no reliable diagnostic test to confirm anaphylaxis in the emergency department.

The transcriptome represents the entire set of RNA transcripts expressed in a cell, reflecting both the underlying genetic and epigenetic landscape and environmental influences, providing a comprehensive view of functional cellular states at any given time. Recent technological advances now enable the study of the transcriptome at the resolution of individual cells, providing exciting opportunities to characterise cellular and molecular events that underpin immune-medicated diseases.