Research gets results

Each year, research into lung disease enhances our knowledge to support advances in diagnosis, treatment and hopefully one day – the prevention and cure of lung diseases.

Since 1990, Lung Foundation Australia has raised and invested $15.6 million into a number of research projects. A snapshot of recent and current projects includes:

• Developing the National Standards for Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to ensure best practice delivery of this exercise and education program.
• Immune regulation of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) to support early diagnosis of the disease and the identification of new targeted therapies.
• Deep profiling of lung cancer, metastasis and the immune system to identify new therapeutic targets and support early diagnosis that will enable more people to have curative surgery.
• Molecular profiling of tumours to identify specific characteristics associated with lung cancer.
• The impact of childhood respiratory infection, bronchitis and asthma in the development of reduced lung function / COPD in middle age.
• Benefits of home based pulmonary rehabilitation in COPD.
• Anxiety and depression in IPF, and the impact on long term outcomes.
• Facilitation of clinical trials that contribute to new advances in the diagnosis, treatment and management of lung cancer.