Simon Phipps

Associate Professor Simon Phipps primary research interests is to understand the gene–environment interactions that predispose towards the development of specific subtypes of asthma. A particular focus is to identify susceptibility factors that predispose to severe RSV bronchiolitis and the causal pathways by which bronchiolitis is associated with the subsequent development of asthma. My group has developed various novel mouse models of viral bronchiolitis and later asthma, and through the use of genetic or pharmacological inhibition, together with adoptive cell transfer studies, has elucidated several pathogenic processes and identified new targets for therapeutic intervention. Where possible these targets are validated using clinical samples, and supported by cellular assays using healthy and diseased primary cells obtained from the lung or the peripheral blood.