New national centre to improve tests and treatments for lung diseases

Researchers from the Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia group at the University of Southampton will co-lead a new £9.4 million centre to improve treatments for people with rare lung diseases. The Southampton group will lead the development of airway models to assess effectiveness of novel treatments for rare lung diseases.  This builds directly on a pump-priming project awarded by AAIR to Dr Claire Jackson.

For research we grow patients’ airway cells in the lab to model their diseased airway, but often don’t have enough cells for large-scale experiments. Dr Jackson’s AAIR funding allowed her to make ‘PCD models’ using cells that have been made to live ‘forever’. This work will now be expanded to other genetic airway diseases.

We will also work with patient organisations and academic collaborators to develop the infrastructure, including biobanks, registries and scientific expertise. This will ensure the Life Arc Centre is the ‘go to’ place for developing and validating new treatments.

The LifeArc Centre for Rare Respiratory Diseases is a partnership between Universities and NHS Trusts. It is co-led by AAIR Trustee Professor Jane Lucas from University of Southampton, with partners in Edinburgh, Nottingham, Dundee, Cambridge, and at University College London.