Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Peter Wark is a conjoint Professor of Medicine at Monash University, and the Director of Cystic Fibrosis and RES2, AIRMED, Alfred Health, Melbourne. He holds an honorary position as a senior staff specialist in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle and is an adjunct Professor with the University of Newcastle and senior affiliate researcher at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Immune Health Research programme at HMRI.
He is the Director for the Adult Cystic Fibrosis clinic at the Alfred Hospital that manages the Victorian state-wide Cystic Fibrosis service, providing support to over 340 adult patients with CF in the context of a multidisciplinary team. As director of RES2 he also provides support to people with bronchiectasis and chronic suppurative lung disease. He works in the severe asthma clinic and general respiratory clinics at the Alfred with a special interest in complex airways disease. Since 2009 he has worked within the Commonwealth funded MOICD programme to provide respiratory and sleep outreach support at Narrabri and Moree working with the Kamillori people.
Professor Wark qualified as a Bachelor of Medicine at the University of Newcastle, Australia in 1991. He qualified as a specialist in General and Respiratory and Sleep Medicine and was made a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1999. He was awarded a PhD under the supervision of Professors Peter Gibson and Michael Hensley at the University of Newcastle, Australia in 2001.
He was made a Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand in 2017. He was awarded a Masters in Clinical trial design from the University of Sydney in 2023.
From 2001-2005, Professor Wark was a post-doctoral research fellow under an NHMRC Neil Hamilton Fairley Travelling Fellowship at the University of Southampton and University College London, under the supervision of Professors Stephen Holgate, Donna Davies and Sebastian Johnston.
He was a member of the TSANZ executive board and chairman of the clinical care and resources subcommittee from 2011 to 2015.
Professor Wark was a senior staff specialist in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine John Hunter Hospital and director of the adult Cystic Fibrosis centre from 2005 to 2023.
He was the medical director for the Respiratory Community of practice with the Agency of Clinical Innovation, NSW health, responsible for supporting respiratory services and practice throughout NSW from February 2020 to June 2023 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and a member of clinical expert advisory group from August 2022 to June 2023.
Professor Wark is currently on the board of directors for Cystic Fibrosis Australia and the National Asthma Council.
Research interests
Professor Wark's research interests are; airway inflammation in the context of chronic airways disease, innate immunity, the role of infection in chronic airways disease and translational clinical trial design. His group has developed expertise in identifying respiratory viruses in airway secretions and developing an in-vitro cell culture model of the airway epithelium that we use to model the effect of infection and inflammation. His research focuses upon factors that increase susceptibility to virus infection in asthma, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis and bronchiectasis. Characterising airway inflammation and innate immune responses in chronic airways disease and applying this to clinical care, as well as the development of precise individualised management strategies.
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, University of Newcastle
Award Date: 1 Jun 2001
External positions
Senior Staff Specialist and Consultant Respiratory Physician , Hunter New England Local Health District
Jan 2005 → …
Conjoint Professor and Co-director Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, University of Newcastle
Jan 2005 → …
Research area keywords
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Asthma
- Airway inflammation
- Respiratory virus infection
- Bronchiectasis
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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A Phase 2b, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Parallel-group, Placebo-controlled, Dose Range Finding Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Nebulized CSL787 in Adults (18 to 85 years) with Non-cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis
Wark, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
21/07/26 → 20/07/28
Project: Research
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BEAT-CF MARS- management of acute respiratory symptoms in Cystic Fibrosis
Snelling, T. L. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Schultz, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Prentice, B. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Sivam, S. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jaffe, A. D. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Khatami, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Ward, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Wark, P. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Jones, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Messer, M. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Tay, E. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Estcourt, M. (Project Manager)
1/01/26 → 31/12/30
Project: Research
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A phase 2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled proof-of-concept study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics of SION-719 when added to physician-prescribed Trikafta® in people with cystic fibrosis who are homozygous for the F508del mutation
Wark, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
23/12/25 → 22/12/27
Project: Research
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A Phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of BI 1291583 2.5 mg administered once daily for up to 76 weeks in patients with bronchiectasis (The AIRTIVITY® Study)
Wark, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
10/12/25 → 9/12/27
Project: Research
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A Phase 2a, Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group,Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerabilityof Fexlamose (AER-01) Inhalation Solution in the Treatment of Adults with Moderate to Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Wark, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI))
13/03/25 → 13/03/27
Project: Research
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Antibody responses against influenza A decline with successive years of annual influenza vaccination
Sullivan, S. G., Khvorov, A., Carolan, L., Dowson, L., Hadiprodjo, A. J., Sánchez-Ovando, S., Liu, Y., Leung, V. K. Y., Hodgson, D., Blyth, C. C., Macnish, M., Cheng, A. C., Haugenauer, M., Clark, J., Dougherty, S., Macartney, K., Koirala, A., Khatami, A., Jadhav, A. & Marshall, H. & 6 others, , Dec 2025, In: npj Vaccines. 10, 1, 10 p., 11.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access17 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Exploring the utilisation and effectiveness of implementation science strategies by cystic fibrosis registries for healthcare improvement: a systematic review
Stirling, R. G., Sood, B., Stirling, M. J. L., Kotsimbos, T., Keating, D. T., Rang, C. E., Trauer, J. M., Young, A. C., Yu, C., Bailey, J., Wark, P., Melder, A. & Dawkins, P., Apr 2025, In: European Respiratory Review. 34, 176, 19 p., 240227.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Finding cures for asthma: new paradigms for drug discovery and therapy
Zhuang, A., Thomas, D., Lodge, C., Bourke, J. E., Upham, J. W., McDonald, V. M., Wark, P. A. B. & Anderson, G. P., 17 Nov 2025, In: Medical Journal of Australia. 223, S10, p. S32-S35 4 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus) -
Unlocking Asthma Remission: Key Insights From an Expert Roundtable Discussion
Thomas, D., Lewthwaite, H., Gibson, P. G., Majellano, E., Clark, V., Fricker, M., Hamada, Y., Anderson, G. P., Backer, V., Bardin, P., Beasley, R., Chien, J., Farah, C. S., Harrington, J., Harvey, E., Hew, M., Holland, A. E., Jenkins, C., Katelaris, C. H. & Katsoulotos, G. & 7 others, , Jun 2025, In: Respirology. 30, 6, p. 466-479 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access11 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus) -
Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis: Old disease, new frontiers
Denton, E., Wark, P. & Hew, M., Aug 2024, In: Respirology. 29, 8, 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
Open Access1 Link opens in a new tab Citation (Scopus)
Prizes
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Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
Wark, P. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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The Asia Pacific Society of Respirology, Fukuci Award, Best original research paper in Respirology
Wark, P. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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The Vice Chancellor’s Award for collaboration in research for the Severe Asthma Online Toolkit
Wark, P. (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)