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Research

There is now considerable evidence demonstrating that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to particular classes of microbial stimuli can provide beneficial signals during early life immune development, resulting in the protection against future inflammatory disease.

Research

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) may be an important metabolic regulator of whole-body glucose. While important roles have been ascribed to macrophages in regulating metabolic functions in BAT, little is known of the roles of other immune cells subsets, particularly dendritic cells (DCs). Eating a high-fat diet may compromise the development of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs)-which give rise to DCs-in bone marrow, with less known of its effects in BAT. We have previously demonstrated that ongoing exposure to low-dose ultraviolet radiation (UVR) significantly reduced the 'whitening' effect of eating a high-fat diet upon interscapular (i) BAT of mice.

Research

Influenza A virus is the only influenza virus causing flu pandemics. Influenza is a highly contagious disease that can be deadly, especially in high-risk groups. Worldwide, these annual epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness and in about 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths. 

Research

Food allergy is a major public health challenge in Australia. Despite widespread uptake of infant feeding and allergy prevention guidelines the incidence of peanut allergy in infants has not fallen, and prevalence of peanut allergy in school-aged children continues to rise. Therefore, effective and accessible treatments for peanut allergy are required.

Research

Human perinatal life is characterized by a period of extraordinary change during which newborns encounter abundant environmental stimuli and exposure to potential pathogens. To meet such challenges, the neonatal immune system is equipped with unique functional characteristics that adapt to changing conditions as development progresses across the early years of life, but the molecular characteristics of such adaptations remain poorly understood.

Research

the association between infant LRTI and risk for persistent wheeze/asthma in this cohort is generally stronger for fLRTIs than for other infection categories

Research

Remission is the desired outcome following OIT as it allows individuals to discontinue treatment and eat the allergen freely. Early initiation of OIT in infants and toddlers has been embraced as an approach to increase the likelihood of remission. However, there is no high-quality evidence supporting younger age as an independent factor driving remission; available studies are limited by small samples of younger subjects and lack of adjustment for confounding covariates, particularly peanut-specific IgE (sIgE) levels which is closely cor

Research

Atopic asthma, which is at its highest prevalence during childhood/young adulthood, represents the main focus of this review.

Research

Airways hyperresponsiveness (AHR) is one of the major clinical features of allergic airways disease including allergic asthma

Research

Sex hormones, such as oestrogen and testosterone, display significant immune modulatory properties. This is highly relevant for transgender (trans) people who undergo gender-affirming hormone (GAH) treatment. However, only a limited number of studies have evaluated the immunological impact of GAH treatments, and almost none have assessed the impact in trans young people.