Presented by Dr Maria Sukkar, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney
Dr Sukkar’s work
focusses on the role of the protein high-mobility group box-1 and its receptor
RAGE in chronic inflammatory airways disease. Dr Sukkar was the first to show
that soluble RAGE, an endogenous inhibitor of RAGE signaling, is deficient in
sub-phenotypes of asthma/COPD in which neutrophilic inflammation plays a key
role. Subsequent mechanistic investigations in mouse models
identified a crucial role for HMGB1 and RAGE in driving distinct endotypes of
asthma. Studies in mouse models of cigarette smoke exposure also revealed the
important role of this inflammatory axis in COPD pathogenesis. In this seminar,
Dr Sukkar will discuss current understanding of the HMGB1-RAGE axis in chronic
inflammatory airways disease, and its potential as a therapeutic target.
Having
completed her PhD at the University of Sydney in 2002, Dr Sukkar undertook
postdoctoral research on a Wellcome Trust programme grant at the National Heart
and Lung Institute, Imperial College London; one of the top-ranked universities
in the world. There, she worked with Prof Kian Fan Chung, a world leader in
respiratory medicine. She returned to Australia in 2008 to take up a Lectureship
at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sydney. In 2012, she moved to the
Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, where she is
currently Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Pharmacy. Upon returning to
Australia, Dr Sukkar established her own laboratory for respiratory research.
She has maintained her international links, and has built an extensive network
of national and international collaborations. Her current research is focused
on innate immune mechanisms that drive the abnormal airway inflammatory
response to environmental allergens, pollutants and pathogens in people with
asthma and COPD.
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