Translational research is a cross cutting theme which is central to all investigative science undertaken in the IRD section. The section includes both clinical academics and basic scientists to allow a constant dialogue to ensure all experimental work is made clinically relevant and has obvious application to patients.  There is potential to obtain appropriate patient samples and an assurance that all models have optimal clinical application. 

Research Areas

Clinical trials with mechanistic outcomes

Many of the section investigators are actively involved in clinical trials of novel drugs and therapeutics. A key strength of IRD is to optimise on the samples obtained in interventional studies to incorporate mechanistic outcomes and analyses which are investigated in parallel with clinical trials.

Researchers: Prof Sejal Saglani, Prof Clare Lloyd, Prof Toby Maher, Dr Phil Molyneux, Prof Stephen Durham, Dr Mohamed Shamji

Complex models of lung disease using primary cells

A strength of our section is access to airway cells from patients and healthy individuals, allowing us to develop complex in silico models that reflect the disease in vitro.

Researchers: Prof Sejal Saglani, Prof Clare Lloyd, Prof Toby Maher, Dr Phil Molyneux

Detailed clinical phenotyping of patients

We have expertise in assessing disease severity and pathophysiology in patients to allow application to mechanistic studies, including invasive and non-invasive airway sampling and detailed physiological and imaging analyses.

Researchers: Prof Sejal Saglani, Prof Clare Lloyd, Prof Toby Maher, Dr Phil Molyneux, Prof Stephen Durham, Dr Louise Fleming, Prof Andrew Bush

Endotype discovery

The use of machine learning methodologies for improving causal inference in well characterised birth and patient cohorts and randomised controlled trials to help the discovery of different endotypes of asthma and allergic diseases, and understand mechanisms underlying their development, thereby advancing stratified medicine.

Researchers: Prof Adnan Custovic, Dr Sara Fontanella, Dr Sadia Haider, Dr Paul Turner, Prof Sejal Saglani

Food anaphylaxis research

Our research is focussed on understanding the underlying mechanisms of anaphylaxis, and the different phenotypes of food allergy in children and adults using peanut allergy as a model. Our aim is to better understand why a small number of individuals are at risk of very severe, truly life-threatening reactions, while most food-allergic individuals are not.

We are one of the leading food allergy desensitisation groups in Europe, and were recently awarded "Best Hospital Clinical Team" by Allergy UK.

Researchers: Dr Paul Turner, Prof Adnan Custovic, Dr Robert Boyle, Dr Sara Fontanella, Dr Sadia Haider