• A short history
• Westmead Millennium Institute
  • Infection & immunity research
  • Cancer research
  • Liver & metabolic research
  • Neuroscience & vision research
  • Cardio-respiratory research
• Westmead Hospital
  • Movement disorders

Infection & immunity research

Researchers at Westmead are busy studying fungal, bacterial and viral diseases, and translating their results into improved health outcomes for all of us.

They're also working on finding the genes responsible for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and other allergic diseases.

Highlights

The Institute for Immunology and Allergy Research conducts groundbreaking research into the immune system and conditions that weaken it. Researchers are now working on:

• Developing the basis for a novel approach to treating severe asthma
• Defining the pathways that cause multiple sclerosis (MS)
• A new treatment for MS, based on a world-leading discovery
• A global, collaborative project to screen susceptibility to MS

The Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology conducts important work to contain infections that have a significant impact on the community. Recent achievements include:

• A rapid diagnostic test to detect fungal bloodstream infections that are a major cause of illness and death in critically ill patients and those with poorly functioning immune systems
• Ongoing research to predict which patients admitted to hospital intensive care units will develop a serious infection called candidiasis
• A promising new treatment for serious fungal infections, including Cryptococcus, a fungus that causes severe meningitis and other brain and lung infections

The Centre for Transplant and Renal Research is an Australian pioneer of ';pancreatic islet cell transplantation', which is the only known cure for Type 1 diabetes.

• Transplanting donor pancreatic islet cells allows patients to produce their own insulin. Once established as a mainstream therapy, it will improve the lives of 150,000 Australians
• The Centre is part of a clinical trial that will transplant 20 patients with donor islet cells in an effort to improve the long-term viability of the procedure
• The Centre is collaborating with Westmead's Storr Liver Unit to explore the relationship between islet cells and liver, to add to this body of knowledge

The Centre for Virus Research is highly regarded on an international level for its groundbreaking research into Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and the herpes group of viruses. Recent achievements include:

• Considerable progress on developing a widely effective vaccine for the herpes simplex virus
• Progress toward developing a vaccine against shingles and post herpetic neuralgia
• Producing 'inhibitor agents' to prevent women from contracting HIV
• Investigating HIV-positive patients who fight the disease naturally by maintaining a strong immune system to find clues as to how nature contains the disease

The Institute of Dental Research takes an innovative approach to common dental problems, such as tooth decay and chronic gum disease.

• Researchers discovered that lactobacilli -- generally regarded as 'good' bacteria -- were responsible for invading dental pulp and destroying the tissue
• They then devised an experimental approach to stop the decay and repair the tooth naturally