Research profile: Professor Donna Davies

Dr Donna Davies is a Reader in respiratory cell and molecular biology at the University of Southampton. Professor Donna Davies is Professor of Respiratory Cell & Molecular Biology Allergy & Inflammation Research at the University of Southampton.

Asthma UK is supporting her current research into airway inflammation and remodelling in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Why is asthma so interesting as a research issue?

I am fortunate that neither I nor my immediate family has asthma. However, when relatives or friends come to visit, I realise how many simple things we take for granted (pets, a good night's sleep, not worrying about cleaning, etc). I am particularly concerned about the number of children that have asthma and may face a lifetime of dependency on asthma medication.

From a scientific perspective, asthma presents a major challenge to scientific understanding because it is a complex disease involving both genetic and environmental interactions, so there will be no simple answers. However, we need to understand why asthma affects such a significant proportion of the population and why the prevalence of the disease is continuing to rise. We also need to know why some individuals have disease which is easily controlled whereas others have chronic disease that is refractory to current therapy and substantially affects their quality of life.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I am naturally curious, therefore finding out new things gives me a good deal of satisfaction. One aspect of or work that I greatly value is being able to use samples from volunteers with asthma so that our findings are directly related to the disease. Similarly, as we work in a clinical department where clinicians work alongside basic scientists, we are always aware of the major issues that affect the lives of people who suffer from asthma.

It is also very satisfying to see new drugs targeting mediators that we have been studying come into clinical trial and demonstrate efficacy.

How does Asthma UK help your research?

Unfortunately, over the last five years, respiratory medicine has not had a high priority for government funding, therefore support from Asthma UK has been vitally important for us.

I am currently involved in three projects supported by Asthma UK,: one examining the role of two key allergic mediators, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 on the function of the cells that line the airways (epithelial cells); another looking at the influence of the common cold virus on the ability of epithelial cells to promote inflammation and fibrosis in asthma; and the third looking at whether local hormones called leukotrienes, that are known to cause much of the airway narrowing and wheeze, also cause the longer-term airway muscle enlargement that is characteristic of asthma.

All of these studies are related, in that we want to understand why the structure of the airways is different in asthma (the airways are thicker and blocked with mucus). Understanding how and why these structural changes occur is critical as they are refractory to corticosteroid treatment and contribute substantially to asthma chronicity.

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

We hope to understand more about the mechanisms that underlie chronic asthma, especially those components that are refractory to corticosteroids. Our long term goal is to help towards development of new treatments for chronic severe asthma where there is a major unmet clinical need.


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