We offer a major fellowship and several smaller awards to encourage research into asthma by researchers across various disciplines and interest areas.
The aim of the annual Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship, in partnership with the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), is to enable mid-career investigators to establish themselves as independent, self-directed researchers and foster the development of research in respiratory medicine in Australia and New Zealand. The fellowship is to the value of $60,000 for one year.
The fellowship is announced at the TSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting in April each year.
We are very pleased to contribute to respiratory research in this way and to assist with the career development of an emerging respiratory expert. This is a small way in which the National Asthma Council Australia can acknowledge the ongoing assistance of the many respiratory experts who provide advice and expertise to us for our resources and educational programs for primary care health professionals and people with asthma.
Further details, including eligibility and assessment criteria, are available from the TSANZ website.
Dr Dennis Thomas has been announced as the recipient of the 2026 Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship.
Pictured above: A/Prof Debbie Rigby (NAC Clinical Executive Lead), Prof Natasha Smallwood (TSANZ President), Dr Dennis Thomas (Fellowship recipient).
Dr Thomas plans to use the Fellowship to undertake world-first research to establish the prevalence of sustained asthma remission – defined as remission lasting more than five years – across different asthma endotypes, severity levels and treatment options.
His research will also be the first global evaluation of health conditions that may affect whether someone reaches remission.
Dr Thomas said that although remission represents a major breakthrough in the management of severe asthma, it remains a relatively new concept with limited understanding.
“My research will aim to deepen our understanding of asthma remission and this project is first step in establishing sustained asthma remission as a realistic and predictable goal for all people with asthma.
“It is my hope that this will improve the quality of life for thousands of people with asthma as well as reducing the cost and burden of illness and can be used to help to guide future treatment strategies,” he said.
National Asthma Council Australia CEO, Rhonda Cleveland, said Dr Thomas is already at the forefront of advancing remission in asthma and it was exciting to further his research towards long lasting asthma remission for all.
Dr Jemma Mayall, University of Newcastle.
Dr Mayall’s research team discovered that increased inflammasome activation is a common feature of all phenotypes of asthma but is most prominent in non-T2 severe asthma and obesity-associated asthma, which have no effective therapies. Her team have already developed a new inflammasome-targeting compound, AR23B, however additional research is required to progress AR23B into an asthma therapy. Read more
Associate Professor Rachel Peters, Population Allergy Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Principal investigator of the longitudinal HealthNuts study.
Development of an innovative asthma risk prediction tool for children that extends beyond traditional asthma predictors by integrating comprehensive data on food allergies. Read more
Dr Bronwyn Brew, Senior Research Fellow at the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit at the Centre for Big Data Research in Health and School of Clinical Medicine, Discipline of Women’s Health, University of NSW. Prevention of asthma in children through inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) control of maternal asthma in pregnancy. Read more
(Please note there was no 2021 fellowship awarded.)
Dr Simon Craig, Emergency Physician, Monash Medical Centre and Adjunct Clinical Professor, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University. The fellowship will support research into seeking a global agreement on core outcome measures relevant to acute severe paediatric asthma.
Dr Kimberley Wang, Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia, for 'The effect of intrauterine growth restriction on allergy-induced airway hyper-responsiveness'.
Dr Hayley Scott, University of Newcastle. Her research topic is: Exercise, diet and obesity for asthma management: it’s time to weigh up our options.
Dr Adam Collison, University of Newcastle. The research topic is: The impact of improved asthma management in pregnancy on immunological education and programming in the first year of life.
Dr Miranda Ween, University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital. Her research topic is e-cigarettes cause airway macrophage dysfunction: role in airway inflammation and steroid resistance in severe asthma.
Adjunct Associate Professor Brad Zhang, Associate Professor (asthma genetics research) in the School of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Western Australia. The research topic is 'to compare genome-wide transcriptional and methylation profiles in CD4+ cells in ‘newly arrived’ and ‘long term’ Chinese immigrants living in Western environments'.
Dr Katie Baines, post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Newcastle. Her research topic is identifying biomarkers that predict severe asthma exacerbations during pregnancy.
The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) and National Asthma Council Australia (NAC) Asthma Research Award was created to encourage research into asthma.
This $1000 prize was awarded to the best abstract or poster presentation on asthma at the ASCIA Annual Scientific Meeting.
2019 Dr Therese Boyle
Evaluation of fluorescence enzyme immunoassay for diagnosis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis.
2018 Prof Jo Douglass
2017 Dr Kanishka Rangamuwa
Eastern Health, Melbourne
Ethnicity and atopy: the prevalence of rhinitis and other allergy amongst patients with epidemic thunderstorm asthma.
2016 Dr Joy Lee
Allergy, Immunology, Respiratory Medicine Department, Alfred Hospital, Sydney
Risk factors for vocal cord dysfunction in patients with difficult asthma.
2015 Mr Alexander S. Zhang
St Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Acute radiology rarely confirms sinus disease in suspected recurrent acute rhinosinusitis.
2014 Ms Melisa Lau
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne
Farm exposure in early life modifies the association between TLR6 polymorphisms on asthma.
2013 Dr Euan Tovey
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney
House dust mite aeroallergen exposure occurs during the day, not in bed.
2012 A/Prof Efren Rael
The Pennsylvania State University, USA
Asthma phenotype triggers correlate with clinical outcome.
2011 Ms Bianca Angelica
The University of Melbourne, Melbourne
The association between onset and persistence of eczema and the risk of other allergic diseases.
2010 Ms Bronwyn Brew
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney
Systematic review and meta-analysis investigating breast-feeding and childhood asthma.
2009 Dr Peter Vuillermin
Geelong Hospital, Geelong
Parent-initiated oral prednisolone for episodes of acute asthma in children aged 5 to13 years.
2008 Ms Kate Campbell
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney
Local and systemic effects of multiple nasal allergen challenges with dust mite extract.
2007 Dr Peter Vuillermin
Geelong Hospital, Geelong
A cross-sectional comparison of anxiety symptoms among primary school children with and without asthma.
2002 Ms Leanne Gardner
CRC for Asthma scholar, Melbourne
Mechanism for skewing atopic donor allergen-specific T-cell cytokine production from IL-4 to IGN-γ predominant.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) and National Asthma Council Australia (NAC) Asthma Research Award was created to encourage research into asthma.
The PSA and NAC Asthma Research Award was presented to the best respiratory related abstract presented at the PSA annual conference. The $1,000 prize was awarded for the first time in 2015.
2019 Jennifer Culverson
Orange Health Service, NSW
Winter is coming - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management on the medical ward.
2015 Prof Sinthia Bosnic-Anticevich
Woolcock Institute of Medical Research
Respiratory status of patients in primary care: the opportunities for pharmacy.
The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and National Asthma Council Australia (NAC) Asthma Prize was created to encourage research into asthma.
This $1000 prize was awarded annually between 2002 and 2019, for the best presentation (oral or poster) on asthma presented at the TSANZ Annual Scientific Meeting.
2019 Cherry Thompson
2017 Joy Lee
Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia
Medication adherence in difficult asthma population.
2016 Esther Cheah
The University of Western Australia
A novel ex vivo perfusion system for investigating mucous metaplasia in mouse airways.
2015 Mr Zhixuan (Ken) Loh
School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia
Interferon regulatory factor 7 protects against pneumovirus-induced airway smooth muscle growth in early life.
2014 Ms Courtney Kidd
Lung Institute of Western Australia
Aberrant splicing of histone modification genes affects asthma pathogenesis and severity.
2013 Mr Luke Hatchwell
School of Biomedical Science, University of Newscastle, Australia
Salmeterol attenuates chemotaxis in Rhinovirus-induced exacerbation of asthma via modulation of PP2A.
2012 Mr Md Ashik Ullah
School of Biomedical Science, University of Queensland, Australia
The activation of the receptor for advanced glycation end products (rage) contributes to the induction of HDM-specific TH2 responses
2011 Dr Jay Horvat
Priority Research Centre for Asthma & Respiratory Diseases, University of Newcastle, Australia
Investigation of infection-induced steroid-resistant asthma.
2010 Dr Lisa Wood
School of Biomedical Science and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Australia
Dietary fat enhances airway inflammation in asthma.
2009 Dr Douglas Cowan
Dunedin, New Zealand
Steroid responsiveness in relation to histological phenotype in asthma.
2008 Dr Cristan Herbert
Sydney, Australia
Enhanced expression of cytokines by CD4+ T cells in an acute exacerbation of chronic asthma.
2007 A/Prof Stuart Hirst
London, UK
Requirement of vascular endothelial growth factor for induction of pro-angiogenic changes by asthmatic human airway smooth muscle.
2006 Dr Joerg Mattes
Newcastle, Australia
TRAIL is a key regulator of Th2 cell responses and allergic disease of the lung.
2005 Dr Robert Hancox
Dunedin, New Zealand
Sex differences in the relation between body mass index and asthma and atopy in a birth cohort study.
2004 Dr Jane Ward
Melbourne, Australia
Prostaglandin D2 inhibits proliferation of human cultured airway smooth muscle.
2003 Mr Nathan Brown
Sydney, Australia
Relationship between childhood asthma and plethysmographic lung volume in adult life.
2002 Ms Ingrid Laing
Perth, Australia
Association of the CC16 A386 polymorphism with PC40 and IgE in a longitudinal cohort; 1 month to 12 years.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and National Asthma Council Australia (NAC) Asthma Research Award was created to encourage research into asthma.
This $1000 prize was offered annually between 2002 to 2009, although it has not been awarded every year. The RACGP and NAC Asthma Research Award was awarded to the best presenter of an asthma-related abstract or poster at the RACGP Annual Scientific Convention.
2009 Dr James Turton
Australian National University, Canberra
Can the inhaled mannitol challenge test be successfully used to improve asthma management in the general practice setting?
2005 Dr Fay Johnston
Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, NT
Is the tropical dry season smoke haze a health hazard for people with asthma?
2004 Dr Nabil Sulaiman
The University of Melbourne, Victoria
Breathe with ease – an interactive asthma CD for GPs and trainees.
2002 Prof Les Toop
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
A major increase in the doses of inhaled steroids used in New Zealand accompanying the introduction of fluticasone – largely to do with inhaler sizes?
Dr Dennis Thomas has been announced as the recipient of the 2026 $60,000 NAC TSANZ Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship.
Dr Jemma Mayall has been announced as the recipient of the 2025 Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship
Dr Bronwyn Brew has been announced as the recipient of the 2023 Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship, jointly funded by the National…
Associate Professor Rachel Peters has been announced as the recipient of the 2024 Asthma and Airways Career Development Fellowship, jointly funded by…