Members of the Asthma Foundation's WA MASAC are drawn from the Western Australian scientific and medical sector of our community and are each highly regarded in their fields of expertise. The MASAC members are designated to serve in an honorary capacity and therefore receive no fees for their services on the Committee.

The overall role of the Asthma Foundation's MASAC is to scientifically review applications for asthma research funding including taking into account the views of expert external assessors and reviewers. The MASAC provides advice and recommendations to the Board for funding approval.

	Professor Alan James – Chairman Professor Alan James is a consultant respiratory physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and at Hollywood Private Hospital. His research involves the investigation of airway narrowing in asthma and COPD, currently focusing on the stereological measurement of hyperplasia and hypertrophy of airway smooth muscle and the use of bronchial biopsy to study airway remodelling. His other area of research includes the investigation of genetic and environmental risk factors for respiratory disease in populations including the Busselton Health Studies and the characterisation of respiratory disease in remote indigenous communities. Professor James trained in respiratory medicine in Western Australia prior to taking up a position as a Canadian Research Fellow in Vancouver to study airway mechanics in asthma, the subject of his MD. He has established an independent research laboratory in the West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute and currently holds adjunct appointments for teaching and research at the University of Western Australia and the Notre Dame University in Perth. He has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and editorials. Back to top
	Professor Peter Henry Professor Henry is a graduate of UWA, completing a double major in Biochemistry and Pharmacology (Honours), and a PhD in Pharmacology. Following a rewarding 3-year post-doctoral period at the University of Melbourne, he returned to UWA to join the Respiratory Pharmacology group headed by Professor Roy Goldie. He was awarded an NHMRC RD Wright Fellowship for New Investigators, and then appointed to the NHMRC Fellowships Scheme as a Research Fellow. In 2001, Peter was appointed to an academic teaching and research position within the Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology Unit at UWA. Professor Henry has spent over 20 years investigating novel pathways that protect the lungs from the injurious effects of airborne allergens, respiratory tract viruses, bacterial products and environmental toxins. These studies have typically involved collaborations with scientists from international pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, and have been extensively funded by the NHMRC. Recently, Professor Henry’s research team has been particularly interested in understanding the role of protease-activated receptors and their signalling pathways in the airways during both health and disease. His research group currently consists of Ms Tracy Mann (Research Associate), Mr Terence Peters (PhD student), Mr Samuel Taylor and Mr Ferrer Ong (Honours students). Professor Henry has received several Excellence in Postgraduate Teaching nominations (UWA), and two of his PhD students have been awarded passes with distinction. His current academic responsibilities include being Unit coordinator for Systems Pharmacology PHAR3301, and he has been the Head of the Pharmacology and Anaesthesiology Unit. He has also previously held the position of Head of Teaching and Learning Committee for the discipline of Pharmacology (UWA) and coordinator for the Honours in Pharmacology program. Back to top
	Dr Neil Misso Neil Misso is a Senior Scientist at the Lung Institute of Western Australia and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Research at the UWA School of Medicine and Pharmacology. Neil completed a BSc (Hons) degree in biochemistry at UWA in 1978 and a PhD at the University of Liverpool, UK in 1983. After a period of postdoctoral research at the University of Adelaide, he joined the UWA School of Medicine as a Research Officer in 1985. His major research interests are in the areas of inflammatory cells, mediators and antioxidant systems, and their role in respiratory diseases such as asthma and lung cancer. Neil was Deputy Leader of the asthma phenotypes, gene expression and proteomics project in the Cooperative Research Centre for Asthma and is the Editorial Assistant for the journal, Respirology. Back to top
	Professor Geoff Stewart Winthrop Professor Geoffrey Stewart completed his BSc and PhD at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom before moving to Perth to take up a research position in the Children’s Medical Research Foundation at the Princess Margaret Hospital, which then became the TVW Institute for Child Health Research. He then moved to the Department of Microbiology at the University of Western Australia, and then became Head of the School of Biomedical, Bio molecular and Chemical Sciences. During his time in Australia, he has established a research group with a focus on the isolation and characterisation of allergens from the house dust mite. His group established the biochemical identities of several of the major mite allergens, and has subsequently investigated the potential importance of their biochemical properties in allergic disease. He has been particularly interested in allergenic proteases and their capacity to activate members of a family of cell surface molecules known as protease activated receptors. This work has led to an interest in the interaction of proteases with the respiratory epithelium, and the role proteases might play in initiating inflammatory processes in the lung. More recently, he and his research group have developed an interest in the kallikrein-kinin system, and the role of bradykinin in chronic lung disease. Back to top
	Dr Phil Stumbles Phil obtained his PhD in cellular immunology from Murdoch University in 1993 and is currently a Senior Lecturer in Pathology in the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at Murdoch University. Since 1993 Phil has held research fellowships at the University of Oxford, the University of Western Australia and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, where he is currently also an honorary Senior Research Fellow. His main research interests are in understanding the cellular basis of immune protection and homeostasis within the respiratory tract and how this is disrupted during diseases such as allergic asthma and respiratory viral infections. He is also interested in the development of new modes of drug therapies and immune-based interventions for the treatment of pulmonary immune mediated inflammatory and infectious disorders. Phil has over 20 years’ experience in the study and characterisation of immune cell types using mouse models of human disease, including the study of T cell and dendritic cell function from the airways and lungs of rats and mice, using a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches. Phil also has a long history of working with animal models of human immune-mediated diseases, including autoimmune disease and respiratory inflammatory diseases (allergic asthma, influenza infection). Recent work has expanded to studying interactions between dendritic cells and mosquito-borne viruses such as Ross River Virus, and the establishment of a human birth cohort study to examine the interactions between maternal stress and post-natal immune development. Phil currently teaches immunopathology at the undergraduate level and supervises a number of Ph.D. and honours students. Back to top
	Dr Andrew Wilson – MASAC’s National Representative To be advised Back to top
	David Johnson – CEO Mr David Johnson commenced as the new CEO of the Asthma Foundation WA (AFWA) in January 2010. Mr Johnson is well known in the Western Australian business community with experience in both the non-profit and commercial sectors. Mr Johnson has worked for national insurance giant IAG and then ASB Marketing where he was the General Manager. Mr Johnson has a wealth of experience as a high profile administrator serving as Director of Umpiring for the Western Australian Football Commission for ten years. He had a distinguished fifteen year career as an AFL and WAFL Umpire, is a Life Member of the WA Umpiring fraternity and awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for his service to sport. Back to top
	Yolanda Arcaro – Research Support Officer Yolanda began with the Foundation in March 2010 working part-time as Research Support Officer. In this role she manages the administration of all research grants funded by the Foundation and interacts with MASAC members to ensure that grant guidelines and principles are met. Her career spans over 25 years mainly in a secretarial/PA role commencing with Bunnings Limited at their then head office on Adelaide Terrace. After 10 years with Bunnings she changed industry to work within large law firms such as Mallesons Stephen Jacques, Phillips Fox and Francis Burt Law Chambers. Her last secretarial stint was with a private investigator. Yolanda may be contacted on 9289 3662 or via email yolanda.arcaro@asthmawa.org.au Back to top