Enabling us to undertake a world-class program in childhood respiratory health research, the Centre has unique access to extensive community and patient cohorts, including:
- Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis (AREST CF)
- Perth Infant Asthma Follow-up Study (PIAF)
- Mechanisms of Acute Viral Respiratory Infection in Children Study (MAVRIC)
- Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Project (ORIGINS / AERIAL)
- Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study (RAINE)
Clinical trials
The Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre conducts clinical studies and trials in children that comply with good clinical practice, local and international guidelines.
Clinical intervention studies and clinical trials are a form of human research designed to find out the effects of an intervention, including a treatment or diagnostic procedure. Access to our unique community and patient cohort resources allow us to test the benefits of different medicines and treatment strategies in clinical trials, such as:
These clinical studies are working towards determining what works and what doesn't in preventing and curing childhood respiratory illness to ensure that children, too, can receive appropriate, safe and effective treatment and care. The most important contributors are the children and their families, who volunteer to take part in these studies.
Platforms
In addition, we have access to a wide range of multidisciplinary expertise and platforms.
These include preclinical models, immunology, genetic analyses, drug repurposing, drug discovery, regenerative medicine (e.g. stem cell therapy), cell biology, physiology and lung function testing, and expertise in systems biology (the mathematical modelling of biological data to understand the complex networks that underpin cellular functionality and behaviour).
Together these tools and resources, along with our national and international collaborations, facilitate our efforts to make a difference to the lives of children with breathing difficulties around the world.