Innate Lymphoid Cell Plasticity (ILC2 to ILC3 transition) in Moderate Severe and Severe Asthma during T2 low Asthma Exacerbations

Asthma is an airway disease affecting over 330 million people worldwide. More than >5% of people with asthma experience uncontrolled severe disease despite being treated with high doses of steroids which give them a lot of bad side effects1,2. The availability of a new class of drugs recently called biologics have reduced the number of hospitalizations and the need for oral steroids in severe asthmatics with a particular type of inflammatory cell in the airways, called eosinophils. There remains, however, a lack of effective medicines to treat another type of moderate and severe asthmatics, in particular those with neutrophils or both eosinophils and neutrophils in the airways. A recent large clinical trial studying a drug that targets a factor released int eh airways called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) (NAVIGATOR study) was successful in controlling asthma exacerbations and hospitalizations in asthmatics with both eosinophils and neutrophils in the airways. Based on these findings, it is important to investigate what stimulates the development of asthma attacks when neutrophils are present in the airways. We will study a specific cell type known to be a central driver of asthmatic responses….

Faculty Supervisor:

Roma Sehmi

Student:

Partner:

AstraZeneca Canada Inc

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

McMaster University

Program: