Skip to content
Home page - Centenary Institute Centenary Institute

Primary menu

  • Research
        • Research

          The latest medical research into our most complex health challenges across cancer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation

          Learn more

        • Cancer
        • Inflammation
        • Cardiovascular
        • Programs
        • Laboratories
        • Diseases
        • Expertises
        • Services and instrumentation
  • Support us
        • Support us

          By supporting the Centenary Institute you can help improve human health through excellence in medical research

          Learn more

        • Workplace giving
        • Host or join a fundraiser
        • Gift in your Will
        • Donate in Memory
  • Impact
        • Impact

          Our research develops new diagnostics, treatments and cures for some of the most deadly and debilitating diseases affecting society today

          Learn more

        • Breakthroughs
        • Community and research
        • Real stories
  • Health hub
        • Health hub

          A range of practical information to assist in the possible preventions to disease through evidence-based research on how the body works.

          Learn more

        • Inflammation
        • The Good Gut Anti-Inflammatory Diet
        • Ageing
        • Exercise Snack Program
  • News & events
        • News & Events

          Explore the latest research breakthroughs and ways you can take part in our series of digital and in-person events

        • News
        • Events
        • Media Hub
  • About us
        • About us

          We are world-leading independent medical research institute that drives collaboration to accelerate and translate solutions to our most complex health challenges

          Learn more

        • Governance
        • Corporate information
        • Annual reports
        • Our researchers
        • Careers and studies
        • Contact
  • Donate
    Centenary Institute > Research > Inflammation

Inflammation

Increasingly found to play crucial roles in the development of most major diseases, including Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, diabetes, and tuberculosis.

Inflammation research

Why inflammation is the key

Our belief is that understanding inflammation is the key to unlocking a new era of treatments and cures for many of the deadliest and prominent diseases effecting humanity. The Centenary Institute is at the forefront of this life-saving medical research. We are driven to understand the role of inflammation and the immune system how this drives the disease processes.

As a fundamental mechanism by which the body’s immune system reacts to injury, inflammation is critical in resolving infection or trauma. However, it also underlies a number of prevalent acute and chronic conditions, such as allergies and autoimmune diseases, and drives the initiation and progression of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

By placing inflammation research at the centre of our goals of understanding, we are seeking ways to heal inflammatory conditions (autoimmunity, allergy), cancer and cardiovascular diseases. We continue to study the chief cellular components of inflammation, the blood white cells and the lining of blood vessels and how they react to injury. Our research has defined new mechanisms and devised new drug candidates.

Our research programs and laboratories investigating inflammation and disease

  • Centenary UTS Centre for Inflammation

    Inflammation is increasingly being found to play crucial roles in the development of many major diseases, i­ncluding Alzheimer’s, heart disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, diabetes, tuberculosis and COVID-19.
  • Alcoholic Liver Disease Program

    The Alcoholic Liver Disease research program includes studies on genetics of alcoholic cirrhosis and molecular mechanisms underlying liver disease. By identifying biomarkers for alcohol use and liver injury, we utilise transcriptomics, lipid and miRNA profiling to find treatment targets and pathways.
  • Liver Enzymes in Metabolism and Inflammation Program

    The ongoing increase in all forms of liver disease is a large burden for our healthcare system. Especially the 350% increase in liver cancer in the last 30 years. Much of this increase is attributed to metabolic disease, often in conjunction with diabetes. Our focus in liver disease research is understanding the roles of a key enzyme family in progressive liver damage and cancer.
  • Liver Injury and Cancer Program

    Our work is devoted to understanding pathways at the cellular and molecular levels that drive liver injury and cancer. These pathways may then be identified as targets to modulate these processes or be used for diagnosis and staging of liver disease and cancer.
    Prof Geoff McCaughan
  • Tuberculosis Research Program

    Worldwide, Tuberculosis (TB) is the 13th leading cause of death and the second leading infectious killer after COVID-19.
    Prof Warwick Britton
  • Vascular Biology Program

    The Vascular Biology program seeks to understand the ageing process on the function of blood vessels and the impact on the development of disease. Ultimately the work may help us “age better”.
    Prof Jenny Gamble

Achievements

  • New vaccine research aims to conquer TB

    The Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney, together with collaborators, have been awarded an AU$19 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop the next generation of tuberculosis (TB) vaccines.
    Read more
    Professor Warwick Britton AO, is lead investigator on Tuberculosis
  • New nasal vaccine strategy could improve COVID-19 protection

    Researchers from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have developed a new nasal vaccination strategy that induces potent lung immunity and protection against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
    Read more
    Dr Anneliese Ashhurst respiratory researcher
  • Discovery could open door to new COPD treatment

    Research led by the Centenary Institute, the University of Technology Sydney and Ghent University Hospital, Belgium has identified a new therapeutic approach for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – the targeting and inhibition of a protein called RIPK1.
    Read more

Subscribe to receive news on
research updates and free events

Newsletter

The Centenary Institute is a world-leading independent Medical Research Institute.

We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Centenary Institute stands.

About

  • About
  • Governance
  • Corporate information

Research

  • Programs
  • Our researchers
  • News
  • Media hub

Careers & studies

  • Career opportunities
  • Life at Centenary

Links

  • Contact
  • Privacy statement

Contact us

Building 93, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Missenden Rd
Camperdown NSW 2050 Australia
Telephone +61 2 9565 6100
Fax +61 2 9565 6101

Centenary Institute ABN 22 654 201 090 (DGR 1) • Centenary Institute Medical Research Foundation ABN 85 778 244 012 (DGR 2)
© 2017 Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology.

  • Linkedin
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram