Dr Rhiannon Werder receives MRFF Post-COVID research grant

Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) Dr Rhiannon Werder has been awarded a federal grant to advance research into a common long-COVID complication that results in lung damage.

Dr Werder received the $998,000 Medical Research Future Fund Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 grant for her research project that aims to better understand how pulmonary fibrosis, a type of lung disease, develops after COVID-19.

Image: Dr Rhiannon Werder

Pulmonary fibrosis occurs when lung tissue becomes damaged and scarred with symptoms including shortness of breath, a dry cough, fatigue and weight loss. Post COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis (PC19-PF) develops after a COVID-19 infection and is one of the most common complications.

Dr Werder said, “Long COVID occurs in less than 10 per cent of people (according to the World Health Organization), yet currently we do not understand why some people will develop ongoing problems. This makes the quest to find new drugs to prevent pulmonary fibrosis after COVID infections particularly challenging.”

Dr Werder said her project, working with Dr Sean Humphrey and Associate Professor Mirana Ramialison, would use stem-cell models of the lung to better understand the underlying causes of PC19-PF.

In collaboration with the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and the University of Melbourne, the team will also use small animal models and lung samples to pinpoint the cause of pulmonary fibrosis following severe infection.

“It is not yet understood how lung cells become dysfunctional following COVID-19, leading to PC19-PF. This lack of understanding has prevented researchers from identifying new preventative or therapeutic approaches,” Dr Werder said.

“Our goal is to develop targeted interventions aimed at preventing or even reversing the devastating consequences of pulmonary fibrosis in the wake of COVID-19.”  

Funding

MRFF application number: 2034003