Research profile: Dr Alistair Noble

Why is asthma so interesting as a research issue?

Asthma and allergy have become so much more common in the UK since the 1960s. I am fascinated to find out what has happened to our immune system that might explain how a westernised lifestyle could have caused such a profound increase in allergic conditions.

In particular, T cells, which are central in regulating the immune system’s response to allergens in asthma, have always been my main focus of interest. The fact that asthma is so common also means that any new treatments we help develop could potentially change many people’s lives for the better.

What do you most enjoy about your work?

Although supervising students can be fun, getting into the lab and doing my own experiments is the thing I enjoy most. Generating data that give a clear cut answer to a new research question can be very exciting, although that doesn’t happen as often as I'd like.

How does Asthma UK help your research?

My department was founded thanks to funding from Asthma UK 20 years ago and the charity has continued to support us, including the formation of the MRC and Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma two years ago.

Specifically, Asthma UK has funded my research into new vaccines for allergies and asthma, and our investigations of the roles of different types of T cells in lung inflammation. Research into the respiratory system is particularly under-funded by central government so many researchers like myself could not continue without the support of Asthma UK.

What do you hope to achieve as a result of your research?

We hope to develop powerful and long lasting vaccines that could prevent the development of asthma in the first place or control existing asthma without the need for continuous drug treatment. The vaccine technology we have been developing could, if successful, also be used more widely to prevent infection with respiratory viruses.

By understanding the causes of the so-called ‘asthma epidemic’, it may also be possible to prevent allergies and asthma developing in children by modifying their lifestyle or through vaccination programs.