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Promoting healthier lives for children with Cystic Fibrosis

Life expectancy was in the 20s for children born with cystic fibrosis 30 years ago, today it is in the 30s. Professor Graham Hall is leading this research.

Research

In this study, we examined the effects of maternal smoking as a major adverse exposure in early life, on mucosal immune function and allergen sensitization...

Research

From the results of well-performed population health studies, we now have excellent data demonstrating that deficits in adult lung function may be present early in life, possibly as a result of developmental disorders, incurring a lifelong risk of obstructive airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 

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Modern precision sequencing techniques have established humans as a holobiont that live in symbiosis with the microbiome. Microbes play an active role throughout the life of a human ranging from metabolism and immunity to disease tolerance. Hence, it is of utmost significance to study the eukaryotic host in conjunction with the microbial antigens to obtain a complete picture of the host-microbiome crosstalk. 

The early years of life are characterised by significant opportunity, rapid change and accelerated development which is unparalleled by any other stage.

Research

Onco-fetal reprogramming of the tumor ecosystem induces fetal developmental signatures in the tumor microenvironment, leading to immunosuppressive features. Here, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics and bulk RNA sequencing to delineate specific cell subsets involved in hepatocellular carcinoma  relapse and response to immunotherapy. 

Research

Structural and functional defects within the lungs of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) are detectable soon after birth and progress throughout preschool years often without overt clinical signs or symptoms. By school age, most children have structural changes such as bronchiectasis or gas trapping/hypoperfusion and lung function abnormalities that persist into later life. Despite improved survival, gains in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) achieved across successive birth cohorts during childhood have plateaued, and rates of FEV1 decline in adolescence and adulthood have not slowed. This suggests that interventions aimed at preventing lung disease should be targeted to mild disease and commence in early life.

Research

Both fetal and tumor tissue microenvironments display immunosuppressive features characterized by the presence of specific immunomodulatory stromal and immune cell populations. Recently, we discovered shared microenvironments between hepatocellular carcinoma and fetal tissues and described this phenomenon as an oncofetal ecosystem.

Developmental Origins of Health and Disease