Experimental Studies
Professor Fan Chung, Head of Group
The Experimental Studies Group focuses on the inflammatory mechanisms of airways diseases, asthma and COPD, with a special interest on the biology of the airway smooth muscle. The smooth muscle and its interactions in an inflammatory environment is at the heart of airflow obstruction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness, abnormalities characteristic of many airways diseases. Regulation of cytokine expression, contractile apparatus and intracellular signalling components are the focus of this area of research, and abnormalities of the muscle in disease are being characterised.
In severe asthma and in COPD, the characteristics of the inflammatory response and airway remodelling changes are different and are less responsive to corticosteroids; the underlying mechanisms are the subject of investigation. Chronic cough as a result of chronic inflammation is also an area of interest. The Group is involved in the clinical characterisation of patients with asthma and COPD, using cellular and molecular techniques to relate to clinical issues and questions, and to discover new targets and to evaluate new therapies.
