Woolcock Institute of Medical Research

One of the world’s greatest challenges is understanding the nature of bacterial and viral infections and this was highlight by the COVID19 pandemic, says Woolcock Executive Director Professor Paul Foster. “Our climate, our environment, is changing. And with that, the behaviour of microbes will change. The nature of these pathogens is infection so we could potentially be more susceptible to infectious diseases as climate change occurs." Read more: https://lnkd.in/gJZv8Euh

Interest in medicinal cannabis as a potential treatment for insomnia has been gaining momentum. In the US, the market for CBD products is booming with predictions it could reach $36 billion a year by 2033. But is there any proof that it works? Dr Camilla Hoyos talks about what we know scientifically about the effectiveness of cannabinoids as a treatment for insomnia and the difficulties posed to researching the area by legislative requirements. https://lnkd.in/g8MmPPGP

The Woolcock Institute hosted the Centre for Chronic Diseases of Ageing (CCDA) Research Showcase last week. We heard about the Centre’s cutting-edge research across areas such as brain stimulation to boost slow wave sleep, the potential neuroprotective qualities for insomnia medications, advances in drug to brain delivery, and the links between sleep disorders and brain waste clearance. Our special guest speaker was Professor Chris O’Neill on the epigenetics of chronic diseases. Special thanks to members of our wonderful consumer advisory panel who attended and participated in a discussion, adding their valuable input to our research. Their feedback will help guide our secondary analyses outcomes and discovery of future research projects that we can submit funding proposals for.

As part of their annual Day of Service program, McKinsey & Co consultants recently volunteered their time to facilitate a workshop with Woolcock leadership. We were thrilled to be chosen as a worthy charity and grateful for the amount of effort given by the McKinsey team #volunteer #givingback

Lung cancer is one of the respiratory research community’s greatest challenges and the Lung Cancer Research Network, based at the Woolcock Centre for Lung Cancer Research, is leading the way with collaborative projects and research into new treatments and diagnostics. “I want to build on the lung cancer programme at the Woolcock in partnership with other researchers and clinicians,” says Executive Director Professor Paul Foster. “This will form an important new partnership with Macquarie University and the Respiratory Health Service at Macquarie Hospital. “Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer related deaths in Australia and is understudied. Our goal is to close the knowledge gap for improved health outcomes.” #LungCancerResearch

Our Executive Director, Professor Paul Foster, shares his thoughts on regional and rural services, asthma and mentorship: https://lnkd.in/g3BTUS6s #SleepResearch #AsthmaAdvances

The Woolcock’s Executive Director, Professor Paul Foster, is a world leader in the field of asthma research and has been instrumental in the development of biologics which, in the past 10 years, have provided answers for people with severe asthma. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gqbYuM55 #AsthmaResearch

The Woolcock's Executive Director, Professor Paul Foster, shares his thoughts on mentorship and why he's a scientist: https://lnkd.in/gfSca7vf #Mentorship #Science

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Professor Paul Foster had a very informative visit to Professor Wei Chen’s laboratory at the School of Biomedical Engineering at The University of Sydney. Wei’s team does cutting-edge research into the development of wireless sensor systems for health monitoring. Many of Wei’s systems are applicable to monitoring sleep and cognitive function. Paul thanks Professor Chen for the invitation and looks forward to a visit at the Woolcock in 2025.