Richard Costello
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the RCSI, and Consultant Respiratory Physician at Beaumont Hospital
Killian Hurley
Associate Professor at RCSI, and Consultant Respiratory Physician at Beaumont Hospital
Gerry McElvaney
Professor of Medicine, and Head of the Department of Medicine and Respiratory Research Division at Beaumont Hospital
Gerard Curley
Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care at the RCSI, and Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at Beaumont Hospital
The collaborative efforts of experts in anaesthesia, critical care and respiratory medicine are leading groundbreaking discoveries, driving innovation and improving patient outcomes.
Seeking commercialisation to bring technological advances into clinical practice, Professor of Respiratory Medicine Richard Costello discusses his innovative approach to the management of asthma, which affects around 1 in 13 people in Ireland alone. “There is no simple test for asthma, and we typically still use traditional testing methods — but our understanding is more advanced now,” he says.
“We are using the strengths of new digital technologies for home monitoring, which enables us to see the lived experience of the patient, including their response to treatment,” he adds. “Through the use of digital technology, we reduce the cost of prescribing by 60%, but we need more funding to bring this technology into practice.”
Award-winning respiratory health discoveries
Professor of Medicine Gerry McElvaney’s work has been instrumental in advancing the understanding and treatment of respiratory diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. His team’s work on genetic therapies, particularly altering the faulty genes responsible for severe forms of AAT deficiency, has been not only groundbreaking but award-winning.
“As a direct result of our discoveries, we have spearheaded the national targeted detection programme for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, providing free diagnostics for individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma or unexplained liver disease,” cites McElvaney. “The potential to cure diseases rather than merely alleviate symptoms is within reach, but we need more support for sophisticated clinical trials. We need the government to look at areas of excellence and support them if we are to integrate key developments into our health system.”
Key innovations in critical care
Making considerable progress in key areas of critical care medicine, Professor of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Gerard Curley is focusing efforts on acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a condition affecting approximately 10% of all patients admitted to the ICU. “This condition has a high mortality burden, and survivors tend to have neurocognitive and physical disabilities,” explains Curley. “Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet for the condition, and current treatment remains supportive.”
You can’t take new technology and
discoveries into clinics without
first asking: does this work?
He adds: “Our primary focus is on the development of therapies, particularly through the use of translational medicine or ‘bench to bedside’ approaches, which use a detailed study of patients to identify characteristics that might better predict responses to specific therapies. These precision medicine strategies will help to improve patient outcomes. We’re exploring alpha-1 antitrypsin as a potential treatment in specific cohorts of patients with ARDS, leveraging ex vivo lung perfusion models to test and refine therapies.”
Focusing on pulmonary fibrosis
Focusing on the genetic and molecular complexities of pulmonary fibrosis, Consultant Respiratory Physician Killian Hurley discusses his work, exploring why some families are genetically predisposed to the condition in an attempt to shape potential treatment approaches. “These patients have an extremely poor prognosis, and new treatments typically work to slow disease progression rather than cure the disease,” says Hurley.
“Working closely with patients and patient advocacy groups, our primary goal is to find new, less toxic treatments, which could significantly improve patient outcomes” he adds. “For patients with pulmonary fibrosis, a comprehensive national care programme is essential if they are to access the support they need. This type of national approach could coordinate efforts in research and treatment development and facilitate the advancement of potential new therapies.”
Maintaining high standards of respiratory research
None of this would be possible without the RCSI Clinical Research Centre, which provides the facilities and expertise needed for investigators to conduct clinical research to the highest standard. “You can’t take new technology and discoveries into clinics without first asking: does this work? The clinical research centre is helping us to generate the proof,” insists Costello.
“The experienced nurses, administrators and trial experts add immeasurable value.” As McElvaney aptly describes in one of his many expert TED talks: ’Lung disease has Ireland fighting for breath,’ but with the help of the RCSI Clinical Research Centre, there is real hope.
