About LIWA

Historically the Institute has had a strong interest in allergic airway disease but has now broadened this to encompass all lung diseases. LIWA carefully integrates basic scientific and clinical research to help better understand lung disorders and to improve their treatment. Read more about LIWA's areas of research >>

In its day to day activities LIWA is making a vital contribution to the quality of life of many Australians and to people worldwide.

We aim to:

• Support high quality research into the treatment and management of lung diseases including asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, pneumonia and tuberculosis;
• Support research into associated conditions such as sinusitis and rhinitis;
• Improve the well-being of patients;
• Support the careers of young scientists; and
• Provide a strong educational resource for the community at large.

Our Approach

LIWA believes and promotes an integrated approach in research into respiratory and allergic diseases. Our research embraces a number of research disciplines and features an integrated approach to scientific and clinical research. This is important because the respiratory system is very complex with multiple factors often influencing an individual's lung disease. Therefore, we believe that a holistic understanding of respiratory disease and the treatment of conditions can be more effective and also advance the pace of research. For example, a person's asthma may be the result of their genetic makeup, the environment they live in and processes happening within the cells of their lungs. By understanding these factors, we will be in a better position to treat a person's lung disease.

Diagram: Research Disciplines at LIWA

LIWA is proud to be affiliated with the following organisations:

• Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
• The University of Western Australia (UWA)
• Curtin University of Technology
• CRC for Asthma & Airways
• Western Australian Institute of Medical Research (WAIMR)

Management of the Lung Institute of Western Australia

LIWA was incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act (WA) in February 1999 under its original name of the Asthma and Allergy Research Institute. It is one of very few research organisations to be fully accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

LIWA is also a registered charity and has been endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a deductible gift recipient for donations. The operations of LIWA are overseen by a Board of Directors and an Annual Report is produced for its members. Membership to LIWA is open to members of the community who are keen to support our endeavours. In this way LIWA is a unique research organisation that seeks to link research activities with community needs.