children’s Interstitial Lung Diseases; Profiling the Lung and Airways

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    children’s Interstitial Lung Diseases; Profiling the Lung and Airways (chILDs play)

  • IRAS ID

    320113

  • Contact name

    Sejal Saglani

  • Contact email

    s.saglani@imperial.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Imperial College London

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 2 months, 4 days

  • Research summary

    Childhood interstitial lung disease (chILD) is an umbrella term for a group of over 200 rare lung diseases that can affect babies, children, and adolescents. chILDs share common features, including chronic cough, rapid breathing, decreased lung function and reduced blood oxygen levels. Outcomes for children with chILD are variable. chILD is predominantly a long-term condition and children often have lower lung function in adulthood. chILD is under-researched, with very little known about the causes, traits and mechanisms underlying the disease. There is an urgent requirement to understand the mechanisms involved to improve diagnosis and devise new treatment strategies.
    Our recent work has defined how alterations in the respiratory immune system can drive adult interstitial lung disease (ILD). However, the immune system during chILD is largely unexplored. We propose to use state-of-the-art immune profiling techniques to understand how the lung immune system is impacted during chILD. We will utilise historical lung tissue (taken at the time of diagnosis) and in a second group, prospectively taken blood samples, from patients with chILD. We will use cutting edge immune profiling techniques, already established through our studies of adult ILD, to define the location and activation of the major immune cell types present in chILD. The project has been peer reviewed and funded by a grant from the charity Asthma and Lung UK.

  • REC name

    South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    23/SW/0103

  • Date of REC Opinion

    27 Nov 2023

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion