The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research

IMPROVING LIVES

Every day, researchers at the Woolcock ask themselves “how does what we do improve people’s lives?”

That’s as it should be says Executive Director Professor Paul Foster.

“There are communities out there that haven't been looked after, that’s a global issue but we have a part to play.

“On an individual level, though, if your child has asthma, I want to make sure that they have the right treatments, that they’re diagnosed properly, that their lives are not going to be shortened and their quality of life is not going to be compromised.”

“Then, as you age and grow, I want to ensure that you sleep and breathe easily and have a good, productive life as well. As a research institute, that’s about identifying risk factors to mitigate disease, improving diagnostic practise, and developing treatments that are going to enhance your quality of life as you get older.”

THE REVOLUTION IS COMING

Woolcock Executive Director Professor Paul Foster believes medicine is ready for a revolution.

“Many diseases are managed by general practitioners using very limited drugs and tools – drugs that were invented during the pharmacological revolution of the 1970-80s when we gained a pharamcological understanding of how organs and the immune system work. In a lot of cases, those drugs haven’t changed.”

Developments in cancer treatment are leading the way. “The cancer field is always driving the leading edge of science and now we are treating certain cancers like melanomas with new classes of drugs. We now understand genetics, the function of cells and the way the brain works much better. We need to build AI systems that can take the data we have from the past 20 years and translate it into advancements. The pieces are in place for major changes and the development of patient-based tartgeted therapies”.

COPING WITH BREATHLESSNESS

As we age, many of us accept slowing down – and breathlessness. That shouldn’t be the case, says Woolcock Executive Director Professor Paul Foster.

“What’s your cause of breathlessness?” he asks. “Is it your lifestyle or is it a pathogenic process that you've inherited or a condition that you have acquired?”

We have a long way to go with research into breathlessness and chronic diseases of the lung. Although we have good treatments for asthma, there are none for e.g. fibrotic diseases. There are others, like bronchiectasis, where there's been hardly any research.

We need to develop diagnostics to identify respiratory disease early on and put mitigation strategies in place.

“The community is rightly alarmed at the idea of a heart attack. But a lung attack is just as bad because your lung doesn’t recover fully so there’s a progressive decline in your ability to breathe and your ability to thrive.”

CLIMATE CHANGE AND PANDEMICS

Professor Foster believes one of the world’s greatest challenges is understanding the nature of bacterial and viral infections and this was highlighted by the COVID19 pandemic.

“Our climate, our environment, is changing. And with that, the behaviour of these pathogens will change. You'll have species that were restricted to certain areas able to survive in other areas. The nature of microbes is infection so we could potentially be more susceptible to infectious diseases as climate change occurs.”

The development of mRNA vaccines is crucial to that. “We’re now able to rapidly develop next-generation vaccines so we can address emerging infectious disease and prepare for the next pandemic.”

And to finding the answers to other respiratory viruses. “On my scientific journey, there has never been a vaccine against RSV. The technology that came along with COVID means we do now and that’s critically important immunocompromised infants and adults.”

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• About Professor Paul Foster
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