SPIRITUS: (02) A Monthly update from the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR

February has seen the launch of the Respiratory Technology group’s new laboratory facilities. An opening party, hosted on Valentines Day, was a great success and attended by colleagues from Pharmacology, collaborators, industry supporters, members and friends of the Institute. Guests were given a tour by members of the group and enjoyed canapés and drinks in the Board room overlooking Blackwattle Bay.

Each month the group would like to congratulate individuals for their personal achievements over the past month. The group has published 4 new peer reviewed articles this month. Firstly, congratulations to Mehra who published a paper studying how pMDI formulation variables affect drug absorption at a cellular level. This was followed by a second co-authored paper focused on engineering particles for the same study.

Congratulations also to Judy who had a paper accepted reporting the biofilm disruption effects of novel silver nanoparticles. She hopes to incorporate this technology into intubation tubes for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care wards. Also, Daniela was corresponding author on a paper that reported a new method of delivering both oral and inhalation drugs simultaneously to enhance patient compliance and improve treatment in COPD.

Finally and most importantly, the group would like to welcome new members. Amitabh Prakash, honors student from the Discipline of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine has joined the group. Supervised by Daniela, Paul, YY, Brian Oliver (Cell Biology Group) and Lucy Morgan (Concord Hospital), Amitabh will undertake a project studying the affect of novel therapeutics on mucociliary clearance in the lung.