Search
Access to phage therapy, a treatment option for antibiotic resistant superbugs, is now one step closer for people with CF in WA thanks to a $500,000 donation from Conquer Cystic Fibrosis to the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre.
Wal-yan researchers have been awarded $500,000 for their innovative research, supported by the Western Australian Government’s Future Health Medical Research and Innovation (FHRI) Fund.
The key projects undertaken at Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre.
Associate Professor Anthony Kicic is working alongside local Indigenous communities to search land and water for naturally occurring bacteriophages.
Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that selectively kill bacteria and offer a promising option to address the growing global pandemic of antimicrobial-resistant infections. However, phage therapy does not easily align with traditional regulatory pathways designed for fixed-composition chemical drugs or biologics with fixed non-evolving compositions.
The long-term consequences of early adverse exposures are well known but is becoming clear that early means not just in pregnancy but also in at least the two preceding generations. Furthermore, there are new existential threats to long term respiratory health, some of which have been presented at the INSPiRED meeting in Bologna and are reviewed in this manuscript.
Plastic pyrolysis oil, which can be produced with similar properties as diesel fuel (plastic diesel), can be used as an alternative to mineral diesel (ULSD) to run a diesel engine. This presents a potential method for recycling waste plastic. Typically plastic diesel is blended with mineral diesel, and oxygenated fuel additives such as ethers added to improve resulting fuel properties.
The impact of smallpox (variola) on Aboriginal communities in Australia beginning in 1789 was catastrophic and continues to cause intergenerational trauma. Historically biased perspectives and contemporary misinformation of the disease's introduction and spread impede modern-day truth-telling and efforts towards reconciliation and national healing.
Representing a 30-year interdisciplinary collaboration between The Kids, Perth Children’s Hospital, and WA Universities, the combined global impact of work from this Centre over the last 10 years has equalled some of the most influential paediatric centres around the world.
The Respiratory Physiology Platform at the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre offers access to specialist equipment housed within the outpatient research department at Perth Children’s Hospital, dedicated for research use.