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We are studying immune cells from identical twins of which one suffers and one does not suffer from allergic disease to identify specific mechanisms that may play important roles in disease development.
This study is designed to identify the specific unique immune cell response that occurs in these children with recurrent disease.
Studies in Europe show exposure of pregnant women to high levels of microbial products stimulate immune function maturation in their offspring
The study aims to identify the mechanism for this so that this knowledge can be used to better treat asthma and allergies in both males and females.
This project investigates how cells of the immune system respond to substances to cause allergies to help develop new treatments.
This work is the first step to develop safe treatments for pregnant mums to protect against preterm delivery and low birth weight caused by maternal infections.
Food allergy is a major public health challenge in Australia. Despite widespread uptake of infant feeding and allergy prevention guidelines the incidence of peanut allergy in infants has not fallen, and prevalence of peanut allergy in school-aged children continues to rise. Therefore, effective and accessible treatments for peanut allergy are required.
No approved treatment for peanut allergy exists for children younger than 4 years of age, and the efficacy and safety of epicutaneous immunotherapy with a peanut patch in toddlers with peanut allergy are unknown.
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common chronic respiratory diseases, and some patients have overlapping disease features, termed asthma-COPD overlap. Patients characterized with ACO have increased disease severity; however, the mechanisms driving this have not been widely studied.
The immunological mechanisms that contribute to multiple sclerosis (MS) differ between males and females. Females are 2-3 times more likely to develop MS compared to males, however the reason for this discrepancy is unknown. Once MS is established, there is a more inflammatory yet milder form of disease in females whereas males generally suffer from more severe disease and faster progression, neural degradation, and disability.