Understanding pathogenesis to develop new treatments for respiratory diseases

Professor Hansbro is a group leader and holds a personal chair in immunology and microbiology at the Hunter Medical Research Institute and University of Newcastle, Australia and is Associate Director of the Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Diseases there. He is also an NHMRC Principal Research Fellow. He has established internationally recognised research programs in infections, asthma and COPD, asthma and recently lung cancer.

His group has developed several novel mouse models of the important diseases (COPD, severe, steroid-insensitive asthma, early life infection & lung cancer). He has interrogated them (immune, histological, pathological, lung function & molecular analysis) to substantially further our understanding of pathogenesis and to develop novel therapies. He performs complimentary collaborative clinical and multi-disciplinary studies and collaborates widely.

He publishes extensively in influential journals and he is regularly invited to present internationally including as plenary and to chair sessions. He has a substantial funding record of obtaining nationally competitive grants that support his group. He undertakes substantial mentoring and supervision activities of junior researchers, regularly sits on grant review panels and is on the editorial board of 4 journals. He is an active advocate for respiratory research in lobby groups and is regularly in the press promoting research and funding.