HELPING THE WORLD BREATHE EASIER
HELPING THE WORLD BREATHE EASIER
Our engineers and scientists have created a microscopic “lung on a chip” device, so we can model a human lung to better observe the effect of respiratory diseases and drug testing on this complex organ.
Funded by the Natasha Allergy Foundation, we are conducting oral immunotherapy clinical trials seeking to reduce the risk of anaphylaxis in children using everyday foodstuffs.
Our work drives policy and legislative changes in air pollution, and our research was crucial in a landmark High Court ruling on the death of a child with asthma.
We discovered a gene mutation that can cause asthma and are currently trialling a drug that could provide treatment for millions of people with severe asthma.
THE IMI WILL ACCELERATE RESEARCH
Your generosity will help us change lives for the better. With your help, the IMI will focus on bringing together our experts in air pollution, allergy, asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions, to deliver faster diagnoses, new treatments and even cures to diseases that have previously been considered incurable.
The IMI will help us:
Find the next medical breakthrough in respiratory disease – bringing together new technology and the incredible array of data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic we will make new discoveries and work towards new cures.
Diagnose respiratory illness faster and more accurately – working with data specialists, using advanced imaging technology in the IMI we will create earlier and faster diagnosis systems, identifying tiny changes in a patient’s cells that the human eye cannot detect.
Design better treatments to improve the lives of millions of patients with respiratory disease – by increasing our capability to analyse trial data at speed, we will advance our work in gene therapy and develop treatments that can be used on real patients, faster.
Treat and prevent allergies from developing in early childhood – by bringing data science into our food allergy research, we hope to understand why children develop food allergies in the first place, why some respond better than others to treatments, and develop preventative measures.
Related case studies
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The lungs that learned to run
Diagnosed with severe asthma at seven, Carly spent years battling fear and…
Leading the fight against respiratory and allergic illnesses
Professor Tom Wilkinson
Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Tom is a respiratory specialist with a sub-specialist interest in airways disease – asthma, bronchiectasis and COPD. He runs a large programme of research developing new vaccines to prevent respiratory infections in patients with airways diseases.
Dr Emily Swindle
Associate Professor in Pharmacology
Emily is a research scientist with an interest in understanding the role of mast cells and epithelial cells in innate immunity and respiratory diseases including asthma.
Professor Miriam Santer
Professor of Primary Care Research
Miriam Santer is a GP and a Professor of Primary Care Research in the Faculty of Medicine. Her broad research interests and collaborations include a particular focus on supporting self-management for long-term conditions.
SUPPORT the future of medicine
By supporting the new Institute for Medical Innovation, you breathe fresh life into respiratory research. You can help us get the right people, in the right place, at the right time. Your donation will accelerate research and make a difference to people’s lives.
We need to raise £50m to build this incredible facility. Join us and be at the heart of medical innovation.