Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the most commonly administered vaccine in human history. The medical application of BCG extends far beyond the fight against tuberculosis. Despite its stellar medical record over 100 years, insight into how BCG provides this vast range of benefits is largely limited, both for its pathogen-specific (tuberculosis) as well as pathogen-agnostic (other infections, autoimmunity, allergies, and cancer) effects. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• May 2023

The anti-inflammatory peptide, adrenomedullin (AM), and its cognate receptor are expressed in lung tissue, but its pathophysiological significance in airway... ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2012
• June 2012

Alison Linda W. Joost Omar McDonnell Wijaya Lesterhuis Elaskalani AM LW WJL OE BSc (Hons), PhD BSc PhD BSc, MSc, PhD Early Career Fellow Postdoctoral Researcher Program Head, Cancer; Chronic and Severe Diseases RFA Deputy Head Senior Research ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Projects

Birth cohort studies provide an invaluable resource for studies of the influence of the fetal environment on health in later life. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2015
• January 2015

The co-exposure responses in the Th2high BN incorporated type I interferon/Th1, alternative macrophage activation/Th2 and Th17 signatures ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2018
• August 2018

The gut microbiome is a well-recognized modulator of host immunity, and its compositions differ between geographically separated human populations. Systemic innate immune responses to microbial derivatives also differ between geographically distinct human populations. However, the potential role of the microbiome in mediating geographically varied immune responses is unexplored. We here applied 16S amplicon sequencing to profile the stool microbiome and, in parallel, measured whole-blood innate immune cytokine responses to several pattern recognition receptor (PRR) agonists among 2-year-old children across biogeographically diverse settings. Microbiomes differed mainly between high- and low-resource environments and were not strongly associated with other demographic factors. We found strong correlations between responses to Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and relative abundances of Bacteroides and Prevotella populations, shared among Canadian and Ecuadorean children. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• January 2021

Conventional vaccine design has been based on trial-and-error approaches, which have been generally successful. However, there have been some major failures in vaccine development and we still do not have highly effective licensed vaccines for tuberculosis, HIV, respiratory syncytial virus, and other major infections of global significance. Approaches at rational vaccine design have been limited by our understanding of the immune response to vaccination at the molecular level. Tools now exist to undertake in-depth analysis using systems biology approaches, but to be fully realized, studies are required in humans with intensive blood and tissue sampling. ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• November 2020

Impaired interferon response and allergic sensitization may contribute to virus-induced wheeze and asthma development in young children. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells play a key role in antiviral immunity as critical producers of type I interferons.  ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2023
• December 2023

We review the Group A Streptococcus Human infection studies and present the study protocol for a dose-ranging inpatient study in healthy adults ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2019
• June 2019

The most urgent areas appear to be to continue monitoring the emergence of novel otopathogens, and the need to develop prevention and preventative therapies ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• March 2020

Leishmania (Viannia) parasites present particular challenges, as human and murine immune responses to infection are distinct from other Leishmania species ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2011
• June 2011

Metformin is the most commonly used pharmacological therapy for type 2 diabetes. We report a genome-wide association study for glycemic response to metformin... ...

• Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2011
• February 2011