Dr Worrell presents at BTS Winter Meeting
Published: 11 March 2021
Institute Research Associate Dr Julie Worrell was recently selected to present her work on the long-term consequences of influenza virus infection on cellular communication in the lung at the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter meeting.
Institute Research Associate Dr Julie Worrell was recently selected to present her work on the long-term consequences of influenza virus infection on cellular communication in the lung at the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Winter meeting.
The annual BTS Winter meeting is one of the largest respiratory meetings in the UK, and a real highlight of the academic year.
It provides an excellent networking opportunity; in particular, the chance to interact with clinicians, allied health professionals and scientific colleagues.
BTS Winter 2020 was held online between 17-19 February 2021 and spanned a diverse range of topics. However, consistent themes emerging from meeting were: focus on COVID-19 patient data, precision medicine, and lung defence mechanisms.
The World Health Organisation estimates that annual influenza virus epidemics cause about 3-5 million cases of severe illness, and 290,000 to 650,000 deaths.
Epithelial cells that line the outside of our organs are the first responders to influenza virus. Following this, immune cells work to control the virus.
This process requires these different cell types to communicate with each other during the infection. Dr Worrell's research looks at what happens next.
Cells can teach themselves to remember what certain invaders look like, and these cells become ‘memory’ cells - super defenders that respond more quickly to defeat an invader when they try to cause another infection and, ultimately, form the basis of successful vaccines.
A member of the British Association of Lung Research (BALR) with a background in respiratory research, Dr Worrell investigates how communication between infected epithelial cells, immune cells, and structural cells called fibroblasts, support long term protection against re-infection.
She said: "The BTS selected my work for an oral presentation and I received a high ranking abstract award. Given the current climate, it is more important than ever for early career researchers to take advantage of opportunities to present their work.
"This meeting provided an ideal platform to share my work on the long-term consequences of influenza virus infection on cellular communication in the lung.
“Understanding more about long-term consequences of viral infections in the human lung is particularly relevant to global health and may have implications for the management of ‘emerging respiratory viruses’, such as COVID-19.
“There was lively discussion about my talk in the Q&A session. This was a good sign that the content - even when delivered virtually - had engaged the audience, and I was asked lots of thought provoking questions!"
First published: 11 March 2021