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The Western Australian Paediatric Bronchiectasis Program

Bronchiectasis is a condition where the lungs become damaged and prone to infections.

Western Australian Epithelial Research Program

The Western Australian Epithelial Research Program (WAERP) is a community cohort biobank that collects and stores airway cells from the upper (nose) and lower (trachea) airways of Western Australian children and adults (1-50 years of age) undergoing non respiratory elective surgery.

Current Studies

The Western Australian Epithelial Research Program (WAERP) biobank is undertaking a number of research projects intended to improve the understanding and preclinical assessment of therapeutics for respiratory conditions.

Research Team

The Australian Epithelial Research Program (WAERP) comprises of several parties, including our Chief Investigators, Compliance, Scientific and Clinical Teams, and our Student group.

Scientific Advisory Committee

The Scientific Advisory Committee's (SAC) role is to provide scientific direction and to ensure the objectives of WAERP are reflected in the research performed; SAC forms part of our governance structure.

FAQs

Want to know how to be involved with WAERP? Or how long the project is running for? View our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for answers to these questions and more.

Campaign designed to improve the lung health of Aboriginal children

A public health campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of chronic wet cough in Aboriginal children is helping to improve detection, diagnosis and management of the condition.

Feto-placental vascular structure and in silico haemodynamics: Of mice, rats, and human

The complex arborization of the feto-placental vasculature is crucial for optimal fetal nutrition, waste exchange and ultimately, development. Ethical and experimental limitations constrain research into the human placenta, hence experimental animal models such as mice and rats, are crucial to understand placental function. It is unclear how well the mouse and rat feto-placental vascular structure emulates human. Moreover, the implications of differences in vascular structure, especially in arborization, for placental function remain unclear. 

Predictive gene expression signature diagnoses neonatal sepsis before clinical presentation

Neonatal sepsis is a deadly disease with non-specific clinical signs, delaying diagnosis and treatment. There remains a need for early biomarkers to facilitate timely intervention. Our objective was to identify neonatal sepsis gene expression biomarkers that could predict sepsis at birth, prior to clinical presentation.