Welcome Message

We are now well into the penultimate month of the year, and for the Thoracic Society this sparks the beginning of the busy lead up to our national conference. The Research Subcommittee is in full swing reviewing award applications, the SIG convenors are busy reviewing abstract submissions, and our conference organisers are ensuring the sessions are programmed smoothly to present your research in the best way possible. For 2019 we are expecting another large conference, having received approximately 400 submissions. Details are gradually being added to the TSANZSRS site and the early program is now visible. Early bird registration is available until the 18th of January, 2019.

Thanks to the many who recently submitted award applications. We would like to highlight that a number of awards are still open and some have been extended – please look below or on our website to find out more information.

Finally, here is an open invitation for TSANZ members who would like to share their Research Story with us. We have been working with The limbic for nearly three years now to bring you the latest research media in our research roundup. Part of this roundup occasionally features TSANZ members and their “holy grail”. This section will also feature on the limbic’s respiratory news website and be visible to other subscribers. If you would like to share your holy grail, please tell us a little bit about yourself here.

Enjoy the November edition of your research roundup and please check out the surveys below!

Profs Phil Hansbro & Sandra Hodge

Co-Chairs, Research Sub-Committee

Open Awards

Thoracic Society Awards

Research and Career Development Awards

Maurice Blackburn ASM Travel Award – extended –  closes 3 Dec 18

Boehringer Ingelheim COPD Research Award – closes 3 Dec 18

TSANZ Indigenous Respiratory Nursing Award – reopened – closes 3 Dec 18

Joint Awards

TSANZ / LFA / CSL Behring Research Award for Alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency – extended –  closes 3 Dec 18

Cystic Fibrosis Australia Awards

Cystic Fibrosis Innovation Grant – closes 28 Jan 2019

How to participate

Follow the links above to access each award application form and download the information sheet.

Please email the TSANZ Awards Coordinator with any questions, comments or enquires.

Watch this space for more award announcements…

The following articles will take you to thelimbic.com

Asthma’s 10 treatable traits identified by Newcastle researchers

Silicosis crisis prompts promises of action by government

Respiratory physician honoured for role in Indigenous health

Revised MBS items for sleep studies will change referral pathways for OSA patients

CFTR triple therapy a ‘breakthrough’ for CF patients

New MBS items will increase fees for lung function tests

COPD: why respiratory and palliative medicine specialists need to talk

TSANZ Webinar Series

“What’s in a cough? Implications for the care of people with flu and MROs” with Professor Scott Bell

Event Date: Tuesday, 27th November 2018

Time: 2pm – 3pm AEDT

Duration: 45 minutes

The CF-Air Research Program has provided novel data regarding the prevalence of shared strain infection in CF, potential acquisition pathways including from the natural environment and via direct person-to-person spread of bacteria. This was possible due to the establishment of a multi-disciplinary research team to support studies of the mechanism of cross-infection using CF as a model. Our current work focusses on other CF pathogens and origins and acquisition pathways including Mycobacterium and the potential spread of infection amongst patients with non-CF lung diseases. We have evaluated cough aerosols are highly innovative as no such equipment has been replicated to date, providing in vivo cough studies, safely delivered to patients with respiratory infections.

Only limited places available! Don’t miss out!

The presenter: Professor Scott Bell

Professor Scott Bell is Executive Director – Research, MNHHS and a Senior Physician of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre at TPCH (>320 patients) where he has worked since 1996. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis. He leads the Lung Bacteria Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane. Scott has over 200 peer reviewed publications and has received grant support in excess of $12 million over the past 10 years. His research interests include the CF microbiology, acquisition pathways for human infection and has a long history of supporting multi-disciplinary research. He has been PI on numerous pivotal CFTR modulator trials and is global PI on a novel approach to combination therapies for CFTR correction.

CLICK HERE to register! 

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Missed out on a webinar? 

The videos from our previous webinars are now available for on-demand viewing. For more information, please CLICK HERE!

Respirology – Editor’s Choice

Respirology Issue 23.11 (November 2018)

Predictive value of eosinophils and neutrophils on clinical effects of ICS in COPD

Floor J. Hartjes, Judith M. Vonk, Alen Faiz, Pieter S. Hiemstra, Thérèse S. Lapperre, Huib A.M. Kerstjens, Dirkje S. Postma, Maarten van den Berge and the Groningen and Leiden Universities Corticosteroids in Obstructive Lung Disease (GLUCOLD) Study Group

DOI: 10.1111/resp.13312

               Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), The Netherlands.

Multidimensional improvement in connective tissue disease associated interstitial lung disease: Two courses of pulse dose methylprednisolone followed by low-dose prednisone and tacrolimus

Yasuhiko Yamano, Hiroyuki Taniguchi, Yasuhiro Kondoh, Masahiko Ando, Kensuke Kataoka, ​​​​​​​Taiki Furukawa, Takeshi Johkoh, Junya Fukuoka, Koji Sakamoto, Yoshinori Hasegawa

DOI: 10.1111/resp.13365

Research team at Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy at Tosei General Hospital in Seto, Japan.

Research Project and Survey Requests

Current Opinions of Severe Asthma Specialists on the Utility of Biomarkers for the Management of Corticosteroid Treatment: A Survey

If you are an Australian clinician involved in the care of patients with severe asthma, we would be very grateful if you could complete a brief questionnaire.

We would ideally like to sample opinions from specialists involved in the care and management of patients with severe asthma to reach concensus. This is the second round of a multi-national Delphi process to reach a consensus and there may be follow-up questions based on the answers we receive from this round (with likely 2-3 rounds in total).

A strategy to optimize corticosteroid use in the severe asthma population using biomarkers is currently being investigated. Professors Peter Wark and Jodie Simpson at the University of Newcastle, Australia are looking at an algorithm to adjust corticosteroid dose using exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), and peripheral blood eosinophils. This survey is being conducted by them, and will also be part of a Masters by Research by Dr. James Michael Ramsahai. As part of this project, we would like to seek your views on some aspects of biomarker based corticosteroid adjustment in severe asthma.

For more details, please see the attached information statement. Please note that completion of the survey will imply consent to participate, and for the data collected to be used for analysis. You may withdraw at any time.

If you agree to participate, please follow the link to complete the survey

http://selectsurvey.hnehealth.nsw.gov.au/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=78M2nn61

*for issues with the survey link, please try copying and pasting into your browser and/or using Firefox browser. Feel free to contact the investigators with any questions*

Thank you,

Peter Wark
Jodie Simpson
J. Michael Ramsahai JamesMichael.Ramsahai@uon.edu.au

Implementation of Severe Asthma Management

About the Survey:

On behalf of the NHMRC Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma (www.severeasthma.org.au), we request your assistance in completing a short survey regarding the implementation of management strategies for severe asthma. We are seeking feedback from multidisciplinary healthcare professionals in Australia.

The survey is available at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SevereAsthmaCRE

The results from this survey will inform expert forum discussions, ongoing research and development of resources to support translation and implementation of new findings into clinical practice. Our goal is to use this information to develop improved standards of care through the NHMRC Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma.

This survey consists of 15 questions and we anticipate it will take less than 10 minutes to complete.

If respondents can submit their responses by Friday 02 November 2018 it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and kind regards,

Profs. Peter Gibson, Vanessa McDonald and John Upham, on behalf of the Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma

This survey has been approved by the HNELHD HREC under authorisation number AU201809-09. All responses are completely anonymous and will be kept strictly confidential. If you experience any issues or have any questions, please contact: severeasthma@newcastle.edu.au

Management of complicated parapneumonic effusions and empyemas with the use of intrapleural fibrinolytics

Dear TSANZ Member,

You are invited to participate in a survey that is being conducted as part of a research study. The following survey asks a series of questions about your current practice, specifically with regards to the management of complicated parapneumonic effusions and empyemas with the use of intrapleural fibrinolytics. Insights gained will be considered for future presentation and publication. The estimated time to complete the survey is 10 minutes. Partial responses will not be saved if you exit out the survey early. Your participation is voluntary and anonymous. Responses will be kept confidential. Your contribution is greatly appreciated.

The survey can be completed here: https://hms.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8ddQsXRFwaqAtPD 

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact the study team at: vholden@som.umaryland.edu

We thank you in advance for your participation.

Sincerely,

Van Holden, MD
Mihir Parikh, MD
Alex Chee, MD
Adnan Majid, MD

Division of Thoracic Surgery & Interventional Pulmonology
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School

The attached survey has been approved by the Beth Israel Deaconess Institutional Review Board – The IRB Protocol # is 2018P000052.

Centre for Improving Palliative, Aged and Chronic Care through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT)

ANZ health professionals who care for people with lung cancer are invited to take part in a survey about the clinical importance and management of cough.

Cough in lung cancer – a health professional survey

The survey link is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cough_in_lung_cancer

Survey results will be used to establish the need and direction for development of further pharmacological and non-pharmacological management strategies for cough in lung cancer.

We are interested in the views of health professionals from the full range of disciplines, specialties and settings involved in caring for people with lung cancer, regardless of their level of experience in managing cough.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, and will take approximately 10-15 minutes.

This project is being conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in collaboration with colleagues at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU).

For more information, please contact Dr Tim Luckett via tim.luckett@uts.edu.au or 02 9514 4861.