By Dr David Burns and Dr Fiona McDonald, Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University College Cork, Ireland
Are you interested in learning about how your brain controls breathing?
Ever wonder how the pre-natal environment can influence your breathing pattern after birth?
Why do some common bacteria cause serious disease in vulnerable paediatric populations?
Come join The Society’s virtual webinar Shaping Our Respiratory System on 11 November. Whether you are new to respiratory physiology and looking for your first introduction, or a seasoned academic hoping to find out the latest scientific progress from some of the leaders in the field and engage in meaningful discussion – this webinar is for you!
You will learn from the experts about how new knowledge in the field of respiratory control and inflammation can help us to understand pathophysiology of disease, mitigate risk and/or identify novel therapeutic strategies.
Dr David Burns and Dr Fiona McDonald, respiratory physiologists based at University College Cork (Ireland), will chair this exciting session and host three international experts working at the frontiers of research in respiratory control and inflammation.
Dr Nino Ramirez is Director of the Centre for Integrative Brain Research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and a Professor of neurological surgery at the University of Washington. His research aims to understand sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and erratic breathing in children with Rett syndrome, epilepsy and other disorders.
Dr Ramirez has made a significant contribution to our understanding of gasping. He has identified a novel post-inspiratory complex (PiCo) and subsequently put forward the triple oscillator hypothesis and his group is currently examining how the respiratory network assembles a breath.
Dr Jyoti Watters is a Professor in the Department of Comparative Biosciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr Watters’ research group is interested in how foetal exposure to intermittent hypoxia during pregnancy impacts offspring brain development and function.
Her research group studies the role of epigenetic modifications to DNA and histones, and the function of microRNAs in offspring microglia, focussing on how resulting alterations in microglia activities impact neuroplasticity and neural function, including breathing disruption and cognitive behaviours.
A key aspect of her research centres on understanding the differences between male and female microglial responses, and how these sexual dimorphisms influence central nervous system function and neuroplasticity.
One of the goals of Dr Watters’ research is to examine the impact of maternal stress on offspring microglia and their possible role in adult neural disorders.
Dr Debby Bogaert is a Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Edinburgh. Her research group focuses on investigating the physiology and pathophysiology of respiratory infections and inflammation from an ecological perspective.
Respiratory infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. The respiratory and bacterial pathogens causing these infections are actually common colonisers of the upper respiratory tract as well, living mostly in full harmony with the host. The reason why colonisation with those pathogens is followed by disease in some children, is not fully understood
The ultimate goal of Dr Bogaert’s research is to design new or improve treatment and preventative measures for respiratory infections in susceptible populations. To this purpose, her research team uses a fully translational approach, combining epidemiological, molecular microbiological, immunological and systems biology approaches to answer their research questions.
At the end of the symposium a panel discussion will allow registered attendees to pose their questions to the speakers.
Register by Wednesday 10 November for The Physiological Society’s upcoming symposium Shaping Our Respiratory System: Exploring the Challenges and Consequences of Environmental Cues.