Prof. Ethan Goddard-Borger is a Laboratory Head within the Chemical Biology Division at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). He received his PhD with Distinction as a Hackett Scholar in 2008 from the University of Western Australia. From 2009-2013, he was a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia, where he developed preclinical drug candidates for lysosomal storage disorders. In 2013, Ethan returned to Australia as a VESKI Innovation Fellow to establish his independent research program at WEHI in Melbourne. His laboratory is developing new therapeutic approaches to treating inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract, including asthma, COPD, IPF and CF. Ethan was awarded the 2022 Burnet Prize and 2024 AGS Shimadzu MCR award for his work.
Research
Chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), are a major source of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The 2018 Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey revealed that 11% of Australians have asthma. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide (3.23 million in 2019), and the fifth leading cause of death in Australia.
A common feature of these diseases is the over-production of a viscous mucus that patients struggle to clear from their airways. This mucus accumulates over time and forms obstructions in the airways, impairing lung function and increasing the likelihood of infections developing. There is a substantial unmet need for effective mucus-thinning (mucolytic) drugs to better manage this problem. An efficacious mucolytic drug would provide substantial benefits to many suffering from these debilitating, incurable diseases.
My research tackles this problem by first building a thorough understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing pulmonary mucus rheology. My team are applying cutting-edge proteomic and biochemical technologies to understand how interactions between proteins in the mucus can drive changes in the bulk physical properties of the mucus in the lungs. With this knowledge, my laboratory will set about developing new tests to help identify those patients who are most at risk of developing airway obstructions. We will also identify and validate new targets for the development of mucolytic drug candidates. This work will deliver valuable data sets, biomarkers and potentially even early drug candidates that will contribute to a better understanding and improved management of chronic respiratory diseases.