Host and Pathogen Biology in Cystic fibrosis

About

Cystic fibrosis (CF) primarily affects the lungs and digestive system because of a malfunction in the exocrine system that’s responsible for producing saliva, sweat, tears and mucus. It affects digestive functions and traps bacteria in the lungs resulting in recurrent infections. CF is the most common, life-limiting genetic condition affecting Australians and while babies born with CF today can expect to live well into adulthood, significant gaps in both life expectancy and quality of life are still present.

The Host and Pathogen Biology in CF group is working with consumers and international research leaders to close these gaps.

The group is led by Dr Luke Garratt, a Principal Investigator and senior research fellow within the Centre for Respiratory Health at the University of Western Australia. The team is multidisciplinary across cell biology, clinical sample analysis, animal models of disease, and bioinformatics, and collaborates with leaders on a local, national and international level. Their research focus is centred around:

Interactions of CF and ageing on health and wellbeing
Prevention and treatment of bacterial and fungal infections
Biology of neutrophils and their contributions to CF and other inflammatory diseases

Current research projects

‘Outliving the CF pamphlet’ – Assessing Biological Ageing in Cystic Fibrosis

This project is testing the hypothesis that adults living with CF have experienced accelerated biological ageing. The study will investigate multiple blood-based assessments of biological ageing in people with CF and age and sex matched controls from the general community. This information will also be analysed to estimate the relative risk of age-related diseases in the CF community, using analyses developed from large, national cohort studies. This study is being overseen by a dedicated consumer reference group of 8 people from the Western Australian CF community. If you are interested in knowing more or participating in the study, please contact otcfp-study-crh@uwa.edu.au.

Biology of Antifungal Resistant Scedosporium and Lomentospora Infections

This project seeks to answer critical questions regarding the biology of these rare but serious fungal infections, which can impact people with CF and those who are immunocompromised. Collaborating with national leaders in mycology, the study is characterising a large number of clinical isolates of these fungi from across Australia, conducting infection models to study fungal biology during infection, and performing advanced molecular biology to identify new treatment targets and biomarkers for earlier diagnosis.

Differences in Neutrophil Biology Between Men and Women

This project is exploring how neutrophils are activated upon migration from the blood into the tissues. We have discovered important differences that occur during this process between neutrophils from men and women and ongoing research seeks to understand how these differences may drive sex-related discrepancies in chronic disease outcomes.

Recent Highlights

Vertex Independent Research Innovation Award (2025-2028), CIA Dr Luke Garratt
National Health and Medical Research Council Ideas Grant (2025-28), CIA Dr Luke Garratt
Future Health Research and Innovation Fund WA Emerging Leaders Award (2025-26), CIA Dr Luke Garratt

Publications

Schofield CJ, Garratt LW. Neutrophil Heterogeneity in Recurrent Severe Wheeze: A Signal Worth Following. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2026. In press.
Montgomery ST, Rezaee H, Sbaraini N, Iszatt J, Mantjani L, Kidd SE, et al. Draft genome sequences of the pathogenic fungi Scedosporium aurantiacum and Scedosporium apiospermum from clinical isolates. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2026;15(1):e0089625.
Arishi AA, Holland DC, Bracegirdle J, Nedelkos PA, Garratt LW, Mantjani L, et al. Genome-Guided Discovery and Heterologous Biosynthesis of Alkylresorcinols by Collaborating Highly Reducing and Type III Polyketide Synthases. J Nat Prod. 2026;89(2):701–14.
Iszatt JJ, Larcombe AN, Garratt LW, Stick SM, Kicic A. Lytic activity, stability, biofilm disruption capabilities, and genomic characterization of two bacteriophages active against respiratory MRSA. J Appl Microbiol. 2025;136(4).
Chapman N, Cavalheri V, Smith EF, Wood J, Garratt LW, Mulrennan S, et al. MetaNeb Versus Usual Care During Exacerbations of Cystic Fibrosis: An RCT. Respirology. 2025;30(11):1046–55.

Past publications

Schofield CJ, Tirouvanziam R, Garratt LW. OMIP-100: A flow cytometry panel to investigate human neutrophil subsets. Cytometry A. 2024;105(2):81–7.
Slimmen LJM, Giacalone VD, Schofield C, Horati H, Manai B, Estevao SC, et al. Airway macrophages display decreased expression of receptors mediating and regulating scavenging in early cystic fibrosis lung disease. Front Immunol. 2023;14:1202009.
Margaroli C, Horati H, Garratt LW, Giacalone VD, Schofield C, Dittrich AS, et al. Macrophage PD-1 associates with neutrophilia and reduced bacterial killing in early cystic fibrosis airway disease. J Cyst Fibros. 2022;21(6):967–76.
Laucirica DR, Stick SM, Garratt LW, Kicic A. Bacteriophage: A new therapeutic player to combat neutrophilic inflammation in chronic airway diseases. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022;9:1069929.
Laucirica DR, Schofield CJ, McLean SA, Margaroli C, Agudelo-Romero P, Stick SM, et al. Pseudomonas aeruginosa modulates neutrophil granule exocytosis in an in vitro model of airway infection. Immunol Cell Biol. 2022;100(5):352–70.
Iszatt JJ, Larcombe AN, Garratt LW, Trend S, Stick SM, Agudelo-Romero P, et al. Genome Sequence of a Lytic Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriophage Isolated from Breast Milk. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2022;11(12):e0095322.
Iszatt JJ, Larcombe AN, Garratt LW, Stick SM, Agudelo-Romero P, Kicic A, et al. Genome Sequences of Two Lytic Staphylococcus aureus Bacteriophages Isolated from Wastewater. Microbiol Resour Announc. 2022;11(12):e0095422.
McLean SA, Cullen L, Gardam DJ, Schofield CJ, Laucirica DR, Sutanto EN, et al. Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus Induce Similar Muco-inflammatory Responses in Primary Airway Epithelial Cells. Pathogens. 2021;10(8).
Lee SMW, Shaw A, Simpson JL, Uminsky D, Garratt LW. Differential cell counts using center-point networks achieves human-level accuracy and efficiency over segmentation. Sci Rep. 2021;11(1):16917.
Iszatt JJ, Larcombe AN, Chan HK, Stick SM, Garratt LW, Kicic A. Phage Therapy for Multi-Drug Resistant Respiratory Tract Infections. Viruses. 2021;13(9).
Garratt LW, Breuer O, Schofield CJ, McLean SA, Laucirica DR, Tirouvanziam R, et al. Changes in airway inflammation with pseudomonas eradication in early cystic fibrosis. J Cyst Fibros. 2021;20(6):941–8.
Garratt LW. Current Understanding of the Neutrophil Transcriptome in Health and Disease. Cells. 2021;10(9).
De Jong E, Garratt LW, Looi K, Lee AHY, Ling KM, Smith ML, et al. Ivacaftor or lumacaftor/ivacaftor treatment does not alter the core CF airway epithelial gene response to rhinovirus. J Cyst Fibros. 2021;20(1):97–105.
Ling KM, Garratt LW, Gill EE, Lee AHY, Agudelo-Romero P, Sutanto EN, et al. Rhinovirus Infection Drives Complex Host Airway Molecular Responses in Children With Cystic Fibrosis. Front Immunol. 2020;11:1327.
Laucirica DR, Garratt LW, Kicic A. Progress in Model Systems of Cystic Fibrosis Mucosal Inflammation to Understand Aberrant Neutrophil Activity. Front Immunol. 2020;11:595.

Our People

The Host and Pathogen Biology in CF group includes a principal investigator, postdoctoral researchers and research assistants working across cell biology, clinical sample analysis, animal models of disease and bioinformatics.

Dr Luke Garratt

Principle Investigator