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Research

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses improve resolution of genes and pathways influencing lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk

Lung-function impairment underlies chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and predicts mortality. In the largest multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of lung function to date, comprising 580,869 participants, we identified 1,020 independent association signals implicating 559 genes supported by ≥2 criteria from a systematic variant-to-gene mapping framework. These genes were enriched in 29 pathways. Individual variants showed heterogeneity across ancestries, age and smoking groups, and collectively as a genetic risk score showed strong association with COPD across ancestry groups.

Research

Associations between respiratory and vascular function in early childhood

The link between respiratory and vascular health is well documented in adult populations. Impaired lung function is consistently associated with thicker arteries and higher incidence of cardiovascular disease. However, there are limited data on this relationship in young children and the studies that exist have focussed on populations at high risk of cardiorespiratory morbidity.

News & Events

My child is wheezing – what should I do?

Almost 50 per cent of preschool children will experience at least one episode of wheeze, a whistling sound produced by the airways during breathing.

News & Events

Can a simple urine test predict asthma? New study aims to find out

The Kids Research Institute Australia researchers are investigating whether a simple urine test could predict whether young children with wheezing symptoms will go on to develop asthma.

News & Events

Premmie twins defy the odds

When Samuel and James Considine were born in October 2003, perilously close to what the medical world describes as the limit of viability, each weighed just 700 grams and could fit into the palm of their father’s hand.

News & Events

Annual Community Lecture: You Are What You Breathe

Join us for our Annual Community Lecture entitled "You Are What You Breathe" with Professor Stephen Holgate.

News & Events

Researchers urge caution in how asthma test is used

Researchers are urging caution in the use of a widely accepted test for diagnosing asthma, after their study found it may not be accurate in some settings.

Research

Consensus statement for inert gas washout measurement using multiple- and single- breath tests

Inert gas washout tests, performed using the single- or multiple-breath washout technique, were first described over 60 years ago.

Research

Crowding and other strong predictors of upper respiratory tract carriage of otitis media-related bacteria

Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae is associated with otitis media

Research

Exhaled breath temperature in healthy children is influenced by room temperature and lung volume

Exhaled breath temperature (EBT) has been proposed for the non-invasive assessment of airway inflammation