Dr Paris Papagianis is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Respiratory Pharmacology Lab within the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) at Monash University.

Paris’ research focus is on lung health and disease spanning early life to adulthood.

Paris was awarded a joint PhD from Monash University and the University of Western Australia (2019), exploring anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic therapeutics for ventilator-induced lung injury in preterm birth care. Paris then completed a 2-year postdoctoral position studying lung stem cell biology. Paris studied how stem cells interact with surrounding celld in the lungs to facilitate normal tissue repair, or alternatively what goes wrong during these interactions to contribute to chronic lung diseases.

In 2022, Paris joined the Respiratory Pharmacology Laboratory, led by A/Prof Jane Bourke. Paris maintains a strong interest in lung health and diseases, working with Jane on the occupational lung disease, silicosis. Paris and Jane are developing tools to screen people at risk of occupational lung diseases in the workplace. In separate projects, Paris also collaborates with Prof Claudia Nold from The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, investigating mechanisms and potential therapeutics for diseases associated with premature birth.

Paris’ career highlights include being selected to being selected as an Australian Finalist in the Falling Walls Lab, being selected to attend the Science Meets Parliament Meeting and completing CSIRO ON Prime. Additional highlights include more than 12 invitations to present her work at national or international conferences. Paris is passionate about communicating scientific research to broad audiences and holds communication workshops for HDR and ECRs within the BDI.

Paris’ research has been supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Victorian Government through the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund, CSL, Dust Diseases Board, Lung Foundation Australia and the Norman Beischer Medical Research Innovation Fund.

Vision and Mission

My vision is to understand the origins of lung injury and disease in the early life period to inform a person's risk of chronic lung diseases later in life.

My mission is to understand and prevent the current escalating cases of chronic lung diseases in Australia and across the globe.

Research topics

Paris’ research is aligned with the Monash Impact 2030 Global Challenge of Thriving Communities, to better understand, create innovative solutions and transform communities locally, nationally and internationally.

Silicosis Research

1 in 3 Australians have a chronic lung disease, and approximately 43 families lose a loved one to chronic lung diseases every day.

More than 200,000 Australians are expected to be diagnosed with silicosis, according to current workplace silica dust exposure statistics. Working closely with consumers, community organisations, clinicians and not-for-profit organisations, Paris and the Respiratory Pharmacology Lab are developing new ways to screen for occupational lung diseases early, before established lung scarring and lung function decline. The importance of identifying people with high risk of developing occupational lung diseases, like silicosis, is critical to improve quality of life. Symptoms can be managed if caught early, improving personal and family quality of life.

Paris and Jane have been strong advocates for the recent, fist-ever ban in engineered stone in Australia due to unacceptable surge in silicosis cases.

Diseases of Prematurity Research

1 in 10 babies are born prematurely in Australia. On a global scale, 15 million babies are born prematurely every year, and all have the potential to develop life-threating illnesses.

Babies that are born too early are at high risk of complications in the early life period because their organs are immature and therefore cannot function properly. This is true for the lungs, a focus of Paris’ research. The immature lungs cannot support breathing and because of this premature babies will often require life support. While this is lifesaving, it can also cause damage to the immature lungs. Paris' research aims to understand how lung immaturity impacts life after being born too early, including if babies are susceptible to chronic lung diseases in their later teens or adulthood. Paris is interested in optimising care during the immediate early life period, through revised life support protocols or new therapeutics, with the hope to give babies the best start to life.

Paris is passionate about science communication and education. Paris and her colleagues conduct patient-informed research. Paris and the Respiratory Pharmacology Lab conduct consumer-led initiatives to better understand the barriers that prevent safe workplace practices which might lead to occupational lung diseases, like silicosis. Paris and Jane have connections with non-for-profits and charities who have funded their work and continue to aid in the translation of their research to ensure impact and education within communities or workplaces of need. These organisations include, iCare, The Lung Foundation Australia, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and MAQOHSC.

Paris is also a mentor across multiple programs within and external to Monash University. Paris is Chair of the BDI ECR Committee (2023-2024) which oversees 5 subcommittees, including the Mentoring Committee and is a mentor in the Raise Program, which offers mentoring to in-need high-schoolers. Paris is always happy to take on new mentees.

There are a variety of projects for undergraduates (PHA3990) and postgraduates (Honours, PhD) available with Dr Paris Papagianis as supervisor. Please contact Paris via email for current projects: [email protected]