Professor Robyn O'Hehir
Current Positions:
- Director, Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Alfred Hospital
- Professor and Head of Department of Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Respiratory Medicine, Central Clinical School, Monash University
- Director, Co-operative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways (Monash University node)
Telephone:
+61 3 9076 2251
Facsimile:
+61 3 9076 8692
Email:
robyn.ohehir@monash.edu
r.ohehir@alfred.org.au
Office:
Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine
5th Floor, Alfred Hospital
Commercial Road
Melbourne 3004
Laboratory:
Allergy
Department of Immunology
Level 2, Monash University Building, AMREP
Commercial Road
Melbourne 3004
Biosketch:
Professor Robyn O’Hehir has been a key international figure in allergy and asthma research and clinical care for over 25 years. She is an academic clinician scientist who successfully combines a strong track record in basic research with a clear commitment to clinical medicine, in this way demonstrating the value of translational medical research. The contribution of Professor O’Hehir to the allergy and respiratory field ranges from basic animal studies on the immunology of allergy and T cell epitope mapping, through translational research on novel immunogens designed to invoke protective immunity, to clinical research on the pathophysiology and management of asthma. She has more than 200 publications. The importance of her research is reflected by her success in competitive grant funding with an annual personal research budget in excess of $1.5 million. This includes continuous NHMRC funding (including 21 NHMRC or ARC grants over her career at Monash/Alfred since 1997) and a Co-operative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways. In 2007 she was honoured by the NHMRC in a publication as one of ten “Great Minds in Australian Research” and in 2010 was made a Life Governor of the Asthma Foundation of Victoria in recognition of 14 years service as a Director of Asthma Victoria. Professor O’Hehir also contributes to the community through membership of World Allergy Organisation committees, the Anaphylaxis and Asthma State Committees, the Food Standards Authority of Australia and New Zealand Scientific Committee and the Governing Board of Cabrini Health.
Professor O’Hehir currently serves as Editor of the international journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy. She is regularly invited to give plenary and symposium keynote talks at national and international meetings. Professor O’Hehir is Director of the Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine at The Alfred Hospital with 150 staff, studying and treating the full range of allergic and respiratory conditions. She is noted for offering the highest quality of leadership to a broadly based Department, with strong areas of basic research, clinical research, public health commitment and specialist clinical practice. She is actively engaged in national and international clinical trials, to ensure that her combined research and clinical duties focus on translation of research findings into improved Hospital and community clinical practice.
Current Research Focus:
Professor O’Hehir’s research targets allergy and inflammation, addressing fundamental issues (such as the molecular characterisation of allergens, and regulators of the inflammatory response to allergens) in the context of translation to the clinic, emphasising prevention of harmful clinical outcomes such as anaphylaxis and inflammation-mediated fibrosis. She has a particular clinical and research interest in grass pollen, peanut and seafood allergy with a view to developing safe and effective diagnostics and immunotherapy for these allergic diseases. Additionally she has an active translational research program seeking to progress research and clinical trials into the role of follistatin as a therapeutic for inflammatory lung disorders including cystic fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Research Projects (partial listing):
- Impaired respiratory tolerance in obesity – the link with asthma? – with Dr Charles Hardy, E/Professor Jennifer Rolland Dr Clinton Bruce Bruce and Professor Charles Mackay
Human CD4+ T cell epitope-based therapeutic for peanut allergy –with Dr Sara Prickett, Astrid Voskamp, Tracy Phan and E/Professor Jennifer Rolland - Mechanisms of nanoparticle- mediated inhibition of asthma – with Dr Charles Hardy, Jeanne Lemasurier, Rohimah Mohamud, John Yao, E/Professor Jennifer Rolland in collaboration with Professor Magda Plebanski
- Characterisation of shellfish allergens – Neeru Varese, Jodie Abramovitch, Astrid Voskamp, E/Prof Jennifer Rolland in collaboration with A/Professor Andreas Lopata (James Cook University)
- Role of activin in driving inflammation and remodelling in inflammatory lung disorders – with Dr Charles Hardy, Hong-An Nguyen, John Yao, E/Professor Jennifer Rolland and Professor Fabienne Mackay in collaboration with Professor David de Kretser and A/Prof Mark Hedger (MIMR)
- Designing New Generation Adjuvants for Allergy and Parasite Vaccines – with Professor Els Meeusen.
Selected Recent Publications:
Hardy CL, LeMasurier JS, Belz GT, Scalzo-Inguanti K, Yao J, Xiang SD, Kanellakis P, Bobik A, Strickland DH, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE, Plebanski M. Inert 50nm polystyrene nanoparticles that modify pulmonary dendritic cell function and inhibit allergic airway inflammation. J Immunol (accepted Nov 3, 2011)
de Kretser DM, O’Hehir RE, Hardy CL, Hedger MP. The roles of activin A and its binding protein, follistatin, in inflammation and tissue repair. Mol Cell Endocrinol (Epub 2011 20 Oct)
Turner PJ, Gray PEA, Wong M, Varese N, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE, Campbell D (2011). Anaphylaxis to apple and orange seed. J Allergy Clin Immunol (Epub 2011 July 27 ahead of print)
Davies JM, Voskamp A, Dang TD, Petit B, Loo D, Petersen A, Hill MM, Upham JW, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE. (2011) The dominant 55 kDa allergen of the subtropical Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum) pollen is a group 13 pollen allergen, Pas n 13. Mol Immunol. 48:931-40 (Epub 2011 Jan 26)
Davies JM, Dang TD, Voskamp A, Drew AC, Biondo M, Phung M, Upham JW, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE. (2011) Functional IgE cross-reactivity between Pas n 1 of Bahia grass pollen and other group 1 grass pollen allergens. Clin Exp Allergy 41(2):281-91 (Epub 1 November 2010)
Prickett SR, Voskamp AL, Dacumos A, Symons K, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE.(2011) Ara h 2 peptides comprising dominant CD4+ T-cell epitopes: candidates for a peanut allergy therapeutic. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 127(3):608-615.e5.[Epub 18 Nov 2010]
Glaspole IN, de Leon MP, Prickett SR, O’Hehir RE, Rolland JM. (2011) Clinical allergy to hazelnut and peanut: identification of T cell crossreactivity. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 155:345-354.
Drew A, Davies JM, Dang TD, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE. (2011) Purification of the major group 1 allergen from Bahia grass pollen, Pas n 1. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 154:295-8 [Epub May 5]
Bousquet J, Schunemann HJ, Zuberbier T, …..O’Hehir RE et al. (2010) Development and implementation of guidelines in allergic rhinitis-an ARIA-GA2 Len paper. Allergy. 65:1212-21
Rolland JM, Gardner LM, O’Hehir RE (2010). Functional regulatory T cells and allergen immunotherapy. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 10:559-66.Sep 20. [Epub ahead of print]
Walton SF, Pizzuto S, Slender A, Viberg L, Holt D, Hales B, Kemp DJ, Currie BJ, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE (2010). Increased allergic immune response to Sarcoptes scabiei antigens in crusted versus ordinary scabies. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 17:1428-38. Jul 14. [Epub 2010 Jul 14]
Lopata A, O’Hehir RE, Lehrer S. (2010) Shellfish allergy. Clin Exp Allergy 40:850-8 [Epub Apr 19]).
Mittag D, Scholzen A, Varese N, Baxter L, Paukovics G, Harrison LC, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE. (2010) The effector T cell response to ryegrass pollen is counter-regulated by simultaneous induction of regulatory T cells. J Immunol. 184:4708-16. [Epub 2010 Mar 22]
O’Hehir RE, Gardner LM, de Leon MP, Hales BJ, Biondo M, Douglass JA, Rolland JM, Sandrini A. (2009) House dust mite sublingual immunotherapy – the role for TGF beta and functional regulatory T cells. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 180(10):936-47. [Epub 2009 Aug 20]
Hardy CL, LeMasurier JS, Olsson F, Dang T, Yao J, Yang M, Plebanski M, Phillips DJ, Mollard RA, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE. (2009) IL-13 regulates secretion of the TGF-beta superfamily cytokine Activin A in allergic airway inflammation. Am J Respir Cell Mol 42:667-75. [Epub 2009 Jul 27]
Rolland JM, Gardner LM, O’Hehir RE (2009) Allergen-related approaches to immunotherapy. Pharmacol & Ther. 121:273-84. (Epub 2008 Dec 7)
Davies JM, Mittag D, Dang TD, Symons K, Voskamp A, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE (2008) Molecular cloning, expression and immunological characterization of Pas n 1, the major allergen of Bahia grass Paspalum notatum pollen. Mol Immunol. 46:286-93
Bousquet J, Khaltaev N, …..O’Hehir RE……. etal. (2008) Allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma (ARIA) 2008 Update (in collaboration with the World Health Organization, GALEN and AllerGen). Allergy 63 (Suppl. 86):8-160.
Rolland JM, Apostolou E, de Leon MP, Stockley CS, O’Hehir RE (2008). Specific and sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for analysis of residual allergenic food proteins in commercial bottled wine fined with egg white, milk, and nongrape-derived tannins. J Agric Food Chem 56:349-54. [Epub 2007 Dec 29].
O’Hehir RE, Sandrini A, Anderson GP, Rolland JM. (2007) Sublingual allergen immunotherapy: Immunological mechanisms and prospects for refined vaccine preparations. Curr Med Chem 14:2235-44
de Leon MP, Rolland JM, O’Hehir RE (2007). The peanut allergy epidemic: allergen molecular characterization and prospects for specific therapy. Expert Rev Mol Med 9:1-18.
de Leon MP, Drew AC, Glaspole IN, Suphioglu C, O’Hehir RE, Rolland JM (2007). IgE cross-reactivity between the major peanut allergen Ara h 2 and tree nut allergens. Mol Immunol 44:463-71[Epub 2006 Mar 31]
