INFECTIONS AND OTHER LUNG DISEASES USING MODELS OF HUMAN LUNG TISSUE GROWN FROM STEM CELLS
Dr Rhiannon Werder,
Team Leader
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | February 2025
Released on the United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11th February 2025 @WomenScienceDay
Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute leading a multidisciplinary team, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research centres around induced pluripotent stem cells to investigate respiratory diseases, spanning acute respiratory infections to chronic lung diseases. Using stem cells, Dr Werder’s team creates models of human lung tissue. With these models, Dr Werder is investigating how human-specific pathogens infect different regions of the lung, the ensuing immune responses, and how the lung repairs itself after infections, especially in people with preexisting lung diseases.
After completing her PhD in Mucosal Immunology at the University of Queensland, Dr Werder was awarded a NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral training at the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Boston University. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Werder’s research led to significant findings, including the first discovery of how the lung epithelium responds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. She has also pioneered new gene-editing techniques in iPSC-derived epithelial cells to understand chronic lung disease inception. The impact of her research has been recognised by prestigious awards including the Metcalf Prize for Stem Cell Research by National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6432-4587
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Neonatal respiratory trials in sick & preterm newborn infants
Prof Brett J. Manley leads and collaborates on large national and international randomised clinical trials in neonatology. He previously collaborated on 4 randomised trials of nasal high-flow as non-invasive respiratory support for preterm and term infants, all of which were published in N Engl J Med. Recently he led the PLUSS trial of intratracheal budesonide for extremely preterm infants, that recruited in 21 NICUs across 4 countries, the results of which were published in JAMA. PLUSS was awarded the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Trial of the Year in 2025. Another passion of his is mentoring and supervising early career researchers to undertake their own clinical trials.
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New models of care and value in General Practice
Dr Michael Wright is a GP, health economist and health services researcher. Dr Wright currently works as a portfolio GP, combining clinical practice with strategic appointments (most recently with RACGP, Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network, Avant Mutual the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) and academic research analysing the effects of current health policy on the quality and performance of primary care.
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Dr Meghan McIlwain
DR MEGHAN MCILWAIN, CLINICAL RESEARCH MANAGER
PRESIDENT, THE NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL RESEARCH,
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
