Mucosal Immunology and Vaccine Development

Biography

Professor Paul Foster is the Director of the Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Disease; the Virus, Infection/Immunity, Vaccines and Asthma Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute and the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Asthma and Airways (Newcastle node). He also currently holds the Chair of Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle. He is also a visiting Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.He serves as an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology and the Journal of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and is on the Editorial Boards of a number of leading international immunology/allergy journals. Professor Foster's research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular basis of asthma, allergy, respiratory disorders, and chronic inflammation. His research program focuses on translational approaches directed towards the development of novel anti-inflammatory therapies. Professor Foster's research findings are published in the most highly ranked medical and biomedical science journals (e.g. Nature Immunology and Journal of Experimental Medicine). Essential Science Indicators metrics places his team on the forefront of his field internationally. Professor Foster receives numerous and ongoing invitations to speak and chair sessions and leading international conferences in immunology and respiratory medicine.

Research Interest

Professor Paul Foster research interest is cellular and molecular processes that underlie the development of allergic disease (lung, skin and gastrointestinal tract) and of viral (RSV and influenza) induced pulmonary inflammation,Professor Foster's team particularly interested in the molecular events that predispose to remodeling of the airways in chronic disease and the subsequent impact on lung function. In particular, projects are focusing on the biology of CD4+ Th2 cells, CD8+ T cells and eosinophils, and in signaling arrangements between cytokine and chemokine systems that pertain to allergic disease, viral induced pathogenesis and viral induced exacerbation of asthma.