From surface to cell, a new approach to studying interactions at interfaces

Capabilities of the CRAM

Members from the Respiratory Technology and Cellular Biology Groups at the WIMR (Traini, Young & Oliver) have been successful in securing $200,000 towards a Coupled Confocal-Raman-Atomic Force Microscope (CRAM). This advanced microscope will be capable of simultaneously collecting 3-dimensional - structural, mechanical and chemical images of biological and material samples. The microscope will be housed in the newly constructed Advanced Imaging Hub at the Woolcock Institute.

The CRAM will provide researchers with the following key advantages: (1) No sample preparation or labelling techniques (especially useful in cell biology); (2) Nondestructive imaging of chemical properties throughout a sample at very high acquisition rates; (3) full Raman maps within minutes at a resolution of 200 nm; (4) The inclusion of confocal imaging allowing simultaneous 3-Dimensional structural and chemical information; (5) nanometer resolution atomic force microscopy for probing surface topography and physical sample properties (for example material hardness or drug receptor binding).

The Chief Investigators are: Daniela Traini, Paul Young, Michael Murray, Fariba Dehghani, Kim Chan, Brian Oliver and Jeff Holst. This Major equipment infrastructure will support a range of high impact ARC and NHMRC grants across the University and WMIR.

SPIRITUS: (05) A Monthly update from the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR

May has been a busy month for the RespiTech team at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.

The OzNose Project was launched, a series of open-source research programs and consortia focussed on the upper-respiratory tract. The founding team consists of academics from a wide range of disciplines including engineering, physiology, clinical practice, molecular pharmacology and drug delivery. With the announcement, a new website 'www.oz-nose.org' was set up to provide a platform for the consortia to report findings to the public and scientific community and serve as a research hub for its members.

Away from the Institute, members of the RespiTech group (Mehra, Yang, John, Dany and Paul) attended RDD Europe in Berlin. The premier drug delivery conference had over 450 attendees and a series of papers by the group were well received. Mehra gave a podium presentation on epithelial uptake of combination products and continued-on to give invited presentations in the areas of drug delivery and cell biology to Paolo Colombo's group at the University of Parma and Claus Muir's group at the University of Saarbrücken. Mehra will work with the team to establish new collaborations and strengthen existing projects between these centres. Also overseas, Jess left for the UK to visit Simon Gaisford's group at UCL. Jess received an Endeavour award to spend 6 months studying particle stability in pressurised metered dose inhalers.

At home, YY received a prestigious fellowship from the European Respiratory Society to undertake a research program with Joy Conway's group at the University of Southampton (UK). She will spend 2014 in the UK working alongside Joys' group to study mucociliary clearance using lung imaging and develop new approaches to treating CF and COPD.

The group have published three articles this month in the areas of respiratory cell biology and clinical management. Firstly, YY published a review in 'Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery', focusing on the application of the Calu-3 cell model for drug delivery studies, while Mehra authored an article in 'Respirology' using the Calu-3 model to study mediated cellular uptake of fluticasone when delivered in combination with Salmeterol. At the patient interface, Sharon authored an article in the 'Australian Journal of Primary Health' reporting asthma management practices in developmental disability clinics; giving advice to healthcare professions with respect to inhaler use and training.

As always we welcome new members to our team. Michele Pozzoli starts with us as PhD student. Michele is supervised by Fabio Sonvico, Mary Bebawy (both UTS), Paul and Dany and will focus on drug delivery to the upper respiratory tract (one of the first projects as part of the OzNose initiative). Welcome Michele!

Welcome to the The Oz Nose Project

Respiratory Technology members at the WIMR are proud to be a part of the 'Oz Nose Project' initiative.  A series of conceptual research projects in the area of nasal physiology, function and drug delivery, between a range of scientists with differing backgrounds, resulted in the establishment of the Oz Nose Project. The Open Source (Oz Nose) Project aims to enhance understanding in the area of upper respiratory tract disorders and develop methodological approaches that can be utilised via the wider scientific community. These advancements will ultimately benefit the general public through dissemination of new knowledge and advanced medicines for the treatment of a range of disorders and diseases.

The www.oz-nose.org page provides a platform for the consortia to report findings to the public and scientific community and serve as a research hub for its members.

YY Receives Prestigious Fellowship

YY award an ECR Fellowship

YY (Hui Xin Ong) has received a prestigious Fellowship from the European Respiratory Society. The Long-Term Research Fellowship awarded is designed to "enable investigators and clinicians in the early stages of their career to carry out basic, translational or clinical research projects and to acquire and apply advanced research procedures and techniques" The award will allow YY to gain new skills in the area of medical imaging that can then be translated and 'value-added' to her home Institution at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.

The award, valued at € 30,700 will support YY during 2014, while she undertakes research at Southampton University. YY will work with Prof. Joy Conway's team at Southampton General Hospital to study mucociliary clearance in patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis. This will enable the team to gain a greater understanding of the disease and develop new approaches to enhancing lung function in patients with these critical illnesses. During this time she will gain experience in advanced medical imaging and be able to apply her skills in Respiratory Technology to develop new drug delivery systems that overcome hyper-mucosal secretion and enhance clearance mechanisms within this population.

The RespiTech Team congratulate YY on such a great achievement!

SPIRITUS: (04) A Monthly update from the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR

Respiratory Technology celebrates its fourth month since establishment at the WIMR. 

April has been a short month for the group, with members of the Respiratory Technology team attending the International Society of Aerosol Medicine conference in North Carolina, followed by meetings with collaborative partners on the East Coast of the US. At home, members of the team who supported the WIMRs Student Research Symposia. 80 people attended this years meeting and Dr Mehra Haghi gave a plenary lecture. Yang gave a postgrad talk and Jess and John had posters which attracted significant attention by other attendees, congratulations to all!

Two papers from an international university-industry consortia were published for which we have received amazing feedback and support from the local pharmaceutics and inhalation community; many thanks for all who commented on our media feeds! It was also announced this month that Respiratory Technology and the WIMR have supported the Australian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society by offering to host the 2013 Drug Delivery Australia Conference in Sydney on the 24 and 25 of October (See www.crsaustralia.org and www.facebook.com/DrugDeliveryAustralia for further details). 

This month has also seen the appointment of YY and Eric as postdoctorate researchers within the WIMR. YY's research will focus on understanding the mechanisms underpinning drug interactions at a cellular level, with a view to treat chronic infection and hypermucosal secretion at the epithelia, while Eric will focus on the dynamics of particle production in combination inhalation systems. We welcome both! Additionally the group would like to introduce and welcome two new research students, Ningyi Xu and Giula Ballerin. Ningyi is undertaking a project looking at the dynamics of pMDI aerosol droplet formation and will be co supervised by Eric, while Giulia, co-supervised by YY, is studying new approaches to enhance clearance of mucus in patients with COPD and Cystic Fibrosis. 

The month ahead; May looks to be an interesting month with the launch of a new group-initiative and the ramp-up of a new area of research (watch this space…). Additionally, members of the team will be attending Respiratory Drug Delivery in Berlin towards the end of the month. See you there…

Woolcock Institute to be the venue for DDA 2013

Respiratory Technology are happy to announce that they are working with the Australian Controlled Release Society Chapter to host Drug Delivery Australia 2013. DDA (formerly AUS-CRS) is the premier Drug Delivery conference in Australia. In its seventh year, the conference has become a focal point for scientists from academia, industry and government agencies to meet, network and discuss the latest developments in the Drug Delivery field.  

The conference will be hosted at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research's conference centre on 24th -25th October 2013. To get unto date information please follow the links to www.crsaustralia.org and www.facebook.com/DrugDeliveryAustralia. We look forward to seeing you at the WIMR in October 2013!

SPIRITUS: (03) A Monthly update from the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR

Respiratory Technology celebrates its third month since establishment at the WIMR. March has been a productive month both socially and scientifically. 

On a social note, Alessandro entertained local residents in the Sydney's Inner West by playing a session at Mr Falcon's; for those who missed out, he will be playing a longer chill-out session in April (keep an eye on our www.Facebook/RespiTech feed for more info). The winners of the WIMR 'Think Tank' Challenge (Ketan, Mehra, YY, Jess and Eric) enjoyed fine dining at Glebe Point Dinner courtesy of the WIMR. Earlier in the month the RespiTech team took part in the Woolcock 'CookUp' to celebrate the Dr Cheryl's Salome's retirement from the Respiratory Physiology and Imaging group. Members from throughout the institute attended and cooked dishes, which were shared and enjoyed by all. 

Each month the group would like to congratulate individuals for their personal achievements over the past month. Mehra graduated with a PhD from the Faculty of Pharmacy in a ceremony held at the Great Hall. In the same month, both YY and Eric gave their final PhD presentations at two of the WIMR seminar series. Two papers were accepted for publication in 'Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy' and the 'European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences'. The first, studied the potential uptake of antibiotics after deposition in the lung while the second investigated the potential uses of Quercitin as a flavanoid for inhalation therapy, with a view to target a range of diseases. Lastly, YY and Eric completed and submitted their PhD thesis to the Post-Graduate board so that it could be externally evaluated.

Finally we welcome a new member to the group, Sharon Davis. Sharon has moved to the WIMR from the Faculty of Pharmacy to work in the area of inhaler device use in patients with disabilities. Sharon is supervised by A/Prof Sinthia Bosnic-Anticevich (who recently joined the WIMR Clinical Management Group at the WIMR) and is co-supervised by Paul and Dany.

Pulmatix to provide consultancy and testing services to the respiratory R&D sector

RespiTech Members Celebrate Launch of New Respiratory Consultancy and Contract Testing Services Company, Housed at the WIMR

Pulmatix is a dynamic new company offering consultancy and testing services to the pharmaceutical sector.  We can provide a range of services ranging from molecular pharmacological studies of drug and excipient interactions at the lung interface to advanced physical characterisation, device development and aerosol evaluation.

Paul M Young and Judy Black, two of the Directors of Pulmatix commented:

"We are in a unique position to offer a range of services, from molecular pharmacological studies of drug and excipient interactions at the lung interface, to advanced physical characterisation, device development and aerosol evaluation. Our key management team has extensive experience in respiratory pharmacology, physicochemical characterisation and aerosol formulation."

Pulmatix has state-of-the-art cellular biology and aerosol testing laboratories and a scientific team with the expertise to match. Whether a company requirement is to solve a production problem for a current formulation, study the effectiveness of an API after deposition in the lung or wish to re-formulate an existing product or develop a new one, Pulmatix can help.

For more information visit www.pulmatix.com

Respiratory Technology @ the WIMR Congratulations Graduating Students

Dr Mehra Haghi with Paul and Daniela

Mehra Haghi was awarded the degree Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Sydney in an official graduation ceremony. Mehra started her PhD in 2009 in the Faculty of Pharmacy under the supervision of Paul Young, Daniela Traini (WIMR) and Mary Bebawy (UTS). Mehra submitted her thesis, entitled 'Deposition, diffusion and transport of aerosol micro-particulates across lung epithelia' within 3 years of commencing. Dr Haghi is now employed at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (WIMR) as a Postdoctorate Researcher in Respiratory Technology. Mehra has made an outstanding achievement as an early career researcher and has already published 8 research articles in high impact journals within her field, as well as a number of peer reviewed full conference papers.

In the same ceremony,  Kanika Jetmalani was awarded Master of Philosophy. Kanika was supervised by Daniela, Paul and Peter Stewart (MIPS, Monash) and finished her degree within one year; publishing a journal article on agglomerated systems for enhancing respiratory drug delivery . Kanika is now undertaking a PhD program under the supervision of Greg King in the Airway Physiology and Imaging Group at the WIMR. The Respiratory Technology Team would like to congratulate both Mehra and Kanika for their achievements.

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.

Opening of Respiratory Technology lab facilities

On the 14 February the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research (WIMR) hosted a party to celebrate the opening of the new state-of-the-art laboratory facilities. The new suite of labs will allow researchers to focus on developing new technology and approaches for treating respiratory diseases. 

Diseases such as asthma, COPD, pulmonary infection and lung cancer affect hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. The new laboratories will allow the WIMR to bridge basic sciences with the clinic to develop new drug delivery systems for treating these diseases. The new laboratory facilities include a 3D prototyping centre, thermal analysis suite, particle sizing room, imaging lab, analytical chemistry hub and particle engineering and aerosol characterisation labs. The Respiratory Technology group will utilise these facilities to identify and target diseases, engineer new devices, formulate drug delivery system and test formulation effectiveness in vitro. 

The laboratories were opened by Robert Estcourt (Chairman of the Board), and Carol Armour (Director of the Institute) and the celebrations attended by Institute Members, Collaborators, Industry Supporters and Friends of the WIMR.

SPIRITUS: (01) A Monthly update from the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR

January has been a busy month for the Respiratory Technology team at the WIMR.

Of note, our new laboratories and installation of core facilities have been completed. All postgraduate students, postdocs and staff have now moved in to the WIMR and research programs are ramping up. Importantly, we have successfully launched our new Website www.Respitech.org along with social media hubs, via Facebook and Twitter.

The group would like to congratulate individuals for their personal achievements over the past month.

YY's (Hui Xin Ong) talk at DDL in Scotland was a success and she was nominated a finalist for the Pat Burnell New Investigator award; Jess (Jesslynn Ooi) received the award for best scientific poster. Jess was also awarded a prestigious Endeavour Research Fellowship to spend six months at UCL studying thermal events in pMDI systems with Prof Simon Gaisford.

Paul was appointed onto the Editorial Advisory Board of Pharmaceutical Research while Daniela saw the launch of a new textbook focussed on educating undergraduate and postgraduate students in the basic principles of inhalation science.

Additionally, the team has published two papers this month suggesting that commonly used oral medications, such as statins and NSAIDS, may provide new therapeutic approaches to treating respiratory disease.

Importantly, the group would like to welcome new members. Alesssandro Varnousfaderani from the University of Ferrara (Italy), co-supervised with Dr Gaia Colombo, has joined the group to undertake a project on particle engineering of novel macrolide drug delivery systems.

Finally, the group enjoyed celebrating the Australia Day long-weekend with an indoor BBQ (circumventing the backlash of Ex-Cyclone Oswald).

ULLA book introduces inhalation science

Daniela Traini and co-editors Paolo Colombo and Francesca Buttini have launched a new educational text focused on the basic principles of inhalation drug delivery. The text is aimed at incoming respiratory research scientists and postgraduate pharmacy students.

The text covers a range of subjects including formulation of DPI, MDI and nebulisers, basic anatomy, particle engineering and Pharmacopeia testing methodology. The book has been written by leading authors in the field including Paul Young and Daniela Traini; from Respiratory Technology at the WIMR.

The book was published in February 2013 and is available from Wiley-Blackwell (ISBN-10: 1118354125) and Amazon.com

From Drab to Lab

Clockwise from top-left: Particle Sizing Lab, Respiratory Technology Lab (RTL), Advanced Microscopy Suite, RTL

The new Respiratory Technology Lab (RTL) and associated specialist equipment rooms are ready to be commissioned. The main RTL is now complete and has a capacity for 16 personnel with PC2 facilities for particle engineering (e.g. spray-drying, pressurised pMDI filling etc.) in vitro aerosol characterisation and powder/liquid formulation. Additionally, the microscope suite has been completed ready for installation of live-cell and other imaging equipment. The particle size laboratory is commissioned and a Malvern 3000 and Spraytech installed. The thermal analysis suite will be commissioned towards the end of the month along with the HPLC room.