Allergy, Immunology & Respiratory Medicine (AIRmed)

Patient Information

Please note that in order to make an appointment with any of our physicians; we must first receive a referral from your doctor including your full name, address and date of birth. Once a referral is received and processed, you will be sent a letter detailing the time and date of your appointment. Medicare card holders are bulk-billed for consultations and associated tests.

Referrals for inpatient consultations from within The Alfred should be directed to the rostered AIRmed Advanced Trainee (Registrar) who will arrange Consultant Physician assessment. Rosters are held by Switchboard and within AIRmed, Ward 5E and the Emergency Department.

Contact telephone and fax numbers for patient enquiries and referrals are listed below:

Cystic Fibrosis (Ph: 9076 2315, Fax: 9076 1050)
General Respiratory (Ph: 9076 3600, Fax: 9076 1087)
Sleep Disorders* (Ph: 9076 3770, Fax: 9076 3601)
Lung Transplant (Medical) (Ph: 9076 2867, Fax: 9076 3601)
[alternatively all general enquiries for these clinics may also be directed to Ph: 9076 3600]
Clinic location: 5^th floor, Main Ward Block, Alfred Hospital
[* Due to the high demand for appointments in the Sleep Disorders Service, referrals are temporarily limited to the Bayside catchment area. Please note that there is a six month waiting list for new appointments.]

Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology Service (Allergy and Asthma Consultants)
Clinic location: Ground floor, Alfred Hospital, "Private Consulting Suites"
Ph: 9076 2934, Fax: 9076 2245

Physiology Service: Lung Function Laboratory and Domiciliary Oxygen Therapy
We welcome referrals directly from general practitioners and other practices.
New referrals to the Lung Function Laboratory can be seen within a week (except cardio-pulmonary exercise testing). New referrals to the Oxygen Assessment Clinic within 4 weeks usually.
Location: 1^st floor, Linay Pavilion, The Alfred
Ph: 9076 3476, Fax: 9076 3434

Brochures about respiratory diseases and associated tests/procedures which may be of interest to AIRmed patients can be downloaded from the Australian Lung Foundation website.

More About Us

Ward 5E: AIRmed inpatient ward (Nurse Manager: Ms Carmel Eccles Ph 9076 3651)

Whenever possible our inpatients are admitted to the AIRmed Ward 5E which is co-located with the Department of AIRmed on the 5^th Floor of the Main Wardblock. The Ward is highly skilled for the care of patients with respiratory and allergic diseases and includes the Cystic Fibrosis Centre of Excellence beds.

AIRmed 1: Lung Transplant Service (Head: Prof Greg Snell Ph: 9076 2867)

The Service is one of the largest in the world, performing 5% of all lung transplantations and covering the southern Australian states and New Zealand. It has strong links to clinical programs in severe interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and severe COPD and has performed over 500 lung transplants.

AIRmed 2: Cystic Fibrosis Service (Head: Prof John Wilson Ph: 9076 2315)

The Alfred Cystic Fibrosis Service currently provides specialist multi-disciplinary care for 240 adults who attend more than 1000 outpatient appointments per year. Those people requiring more intensive therapy account for approximately 250 inpatient admissions per year which includes access to the Alfred @ Home program.

The Service is actively engaged in clinical and basic research centred on host organism interaction, airway remodelling, nutritional needs, airway function and psychosocial issues in cystic fibrosis. The CF Service has developed some information for adults with cystic fibrosis and their families:

Information for Families

Patient Information

AIRmed 3: General Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Service (Head: Prof Matt Naughton Ph: 9076 1398)

The Service cares for all categories of patients with respiratory or sleep disorders - inpatient and ambulatory. This involves the use of non-invasive ventilatory support, tracheostomy management, oxygen therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, all forms of pulmonary and sleep monitoring. We work in close collaboration with the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in addition to emergency, intensive care, coronary care, neurology, general medical and surgical services within the Alfred. All staff are actively involved in education to other healthcare providers.

AIRmed 4: Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology Service (Head: Assoc Prof Jo Douglass Ph: 9076 2934)

This Service cares for patients with asthma and allergic diseases, incorporating also subjects with immunoglobulin deficiencies in outpatient and inpatient settings. Clinical care is integrated with basic and clinical research and forms a node of the national Co-operative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways, a $52 million national research partnership between the Federal Government, partner universities and hospitals and the private sector.

Physiology Service (Head: Assoc Prof Bruce Thompson Ph: 9076 3476)

For many years the Physiology Service has underpinned numerous clinical and research programs. The Lung Function Laboratory performs over 7000 tests per year. A dedicated team of respiratory scientists perform a variety of tests including spirometry, transfer factor, measurement of lung volumes, bronchial challenges (including methacholine, saline (diving assessment) and eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation (the gold standard for assessment of exercise induced asthma)), respiratory muscle strength and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing.

The Physiology Service also conducts oxygen assessments (including exercise and fitness to fly assessments) in conjunction with the Oxygen Assessment Clinic. The scientists have taken a leading role in the evaluation of new diagnostic tests, evaluating the performance of standard lung function testing devices and training of health professionals in the performance of spirometry.

Lung Health Promotion Centre (Manager: Ms Adrienne James Ph: 9076 2382)

This Unit and Centre provide innovative education programs and resources for health professionals in all aspects of respiratory disease, but particularly asthma. The Lung Health Promotion Centre is unique in Australia and provides quality evidence based education programs and resources for health professionals in lung disease management. For further information visit our website.

Research Interests & Current Projects

AIRmed 1 Lung Transplant Service

The Service is one of the largest in the world, performing 3% of all lung transplants worldwide and covering the southern Australian states.

It has strong links to clinical programs in severe interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and severe COPD and has recently established a Paediatric Lung Transplant Service.  Current research within The Lung Transplant Service includes:

• Non-beating-heart donors for lung transplantation

• Immunology of chronic allograft rejection and the role of acute and chronic infections in lung transplantation focusing on prevention and reversal

• Role of NK cells in lung transplantation

• Assessment of Xenograft lungs for Human transplantation

• Evaluation of emphysema using sound wave analysis

• Bronchoscopic treatment of emphysema with airway stent insertion

• Therapeutics for interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension

AIRmed 2 Cystic Fibrosis Service

The Alfred Cystic Fibrosis Service cares for the needs of over 260 patients.  The Service is actively engaged in clinical and basic research centred on:

• The role of stem cell therapy in CF Airway infection, inflammation, remodelling and growth factors in CF

• Advanced glycation end products (AGE) in renal inflammation in CF

• Enhanced nutrition, anti-reflux therapy, and nocturnal hypoxia in CF outcomes Quality improvement through the use of electronic health records

AIRmed 3 General Respiratory & Sleep Disorders Service

The General Respiratory Service cares for patients with general respiratory diseases including pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute and chronic respiratory failure, interstitial lung diseases and lung cancer. 

The Sleep Service manages acute and chronic sleep related breathing disorders across a wide cross-section of pulmonary, cardiac and neurological conditions. Research studies include:

• Sleep disordered breathing in heart failure and impact of ventilatory support on mortality

• Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in Cystic Fibrosis and other acute and chronic lung conditions

• New management algorithms for sleep disordered breathing

• Studies involving evaluation of smoking cessation  and oxygen delivery  programs

• Randomised controlled trials (RCT) exploring the role of surgical weight loss programs upon upper airway dynamics and sleep apnoea severity over 2 year follow-up period

• Palliative care in COPD

• Studies of OSA treatment with CPAP on diabetic control in stable type 2 diabetics

• Assessment of the pulmonary effects of Marijuana smoking 

• Improvements in sleep laboratory instrumentation (oximiters, body position, heart rate variability)

AIRmed 4 Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology Service

The Service cares predominantly for patients with asthma and allergic diseases, but also incorporates care of patients with immunoglobulin deficiencies.  Clinical care is integrated with basic and clinical research and the Service includes a node of the national Co-operative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways. Current research includes:

• Asthma in the ageing population

• Mechanisms of subcutaneous and sublingual allergen immunotherapy in asthma and allergic rhinitis

•  Novel immunotherapy "vaccines" (latex allergy, grass pollen allergy, peanut allergy) 

•  Predictors of lung function in a normal ageing Australian population

•  Clinical and laboratory studies of drug allergy

• Primary Immunodeficiency Studies: Transition in Primary Immunodeficiency

• Correlation of clinical and cellular phenotypes

Physiology Service

The Lung Function Laboratory underpins many of the AIRmed clinical and research programs.  It takes a leading role in the evaluation of new diagnostic tests and the evaluation of lung function testing devices.  Research activities include:

• Novel non-invasive measures of small airways disease in asthma, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and CF

• Hyperpolarised helium (HPHe3) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantitate ventilation inhomogeneity in asthma

• Perfusion imaging of the lung with Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• Predictors of lung function in a normal Australian population

• Phase II studies investigating mannitol challenge in COPD and new strategies for CF and bronchiectasis

Further Research Links

Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine research in the Department of Medicine, Monash University

AIRMed Senior Medical Staff - Publications: Please click HERE and search by name

Douglass, JA.
Kotsimbos, TC.
Miller, BE.
Naughton, MT.
O'Hehir, RE.
Snell, GI.
Stirling, RG.
Thompson, B. (non medical)
Whitford, H.
Williams, TJ.
Wilson, JW.