Prof. Jürgen Schwarze, Dr. med., FRCPCH
Edward Clark Chair of Child Life and Health

Child Life and Health, University of Edinburgh
20 Sylvan PLace
Edinburgh, EH9 1UW
Scotland, UK
Tel: + 44 (131) 536 0801
direct: + 44 (131) 536 0841



Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh
The Queen's Medical Research Institute
47 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh, EH16 4TJ
Tel: + 44 (131) 242 9100
direct: + 44 (131) 242 6588

e-mail: jurgen.schwarze@ed.ac.uk
http://www.rds.mvm.ed.ac.uk/CLAH/index.html


Joining the Academy

1. How long have you been an EAACI member? How long have you been more active within the Academy?

I joined EAACI in 2001 and have been a member of the Infections & Allergy Interest Group ever since. I have become more active in the academy only recently in 2009 when I was asked to co-chair this Interest Group. 

Field of Research

2. Are there any major achievements in your field recently?

My main area of interest is the role of respiratory viruses in excessive inflammation of the airways and lung, both in primary viral bronchiolitis in infants (e.g RSV-bronchiolitis) and in virus induced asthma exacerbations. 
I am not aware of any recent major clinical breakthroughs in the field however the recent development of small animal models for rhinovirus infection both in mice and in rats constitutes a major step forward for the research into rhinovirus induced asthma exacerbations and into viral bronchiolitis. Another recent very interesting development is the appreciation of the immune regulatory role that airway epithelial cells (AECs) have.  My lab and others have recently reported that AECs are able to inhibit the activation and proliferation of both dendritic cells and T cells.  Interestingly this capacity seems to be reduced or even lost when AECs become infected with viruses.  Thus a loss of immune inhibition by AECs may be an important early step in the onset of virus induced airway inflammation.  The mediators responsible for this immune inhibition by AECs are not known, but once identified they could prove useful therapeutically to prevent or reduce excessive airway inflammation during respiratory viral infections. 

3. What are the future plans/goals of the Infection & Allergy Interest Group?

The Infection & Allergy Interest Group led by Prof. Philippe Gevaert and myself will continue to promote research and education regarding interactions between infections and allergy. This includes enhances disease or disease resolution due to viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections or colonisation, as well as issues of vaccination in allergic subjects.  We will continue to encourage researchers and clinicians to submit high quality work to EAACI meetings and will propose strong symposia and workshops at the annual conferences based on such submissions.  The Infection & Allergy Interest Group is also strongly involved in the planning of the upcoming ERAM/SERIN meeting in November 2010 in Ghent. Further, we are planning a summer school focusing on infections and allergy in Edinburgh hopefully for 2011. 

4. What are the research projects you’re currently active in?

I continue working on a research programme to understand the immune mechanism underlying excessive virus induced pulmonary inflammation.  Within this programme I focus on the interface between innate and adaptive immunity studying antigen presenting cells, in particular dendritic cells, in the lung and also the contribution of the respiratory epithelium to immune homeostasis.  This programme of work has been primarily based on murine models however more recently we have started clinical studies in patients suffering from viral bronchiolitis.
In addition, with my colleague Professor Aziz Sheikh, an Academic General Practitioner, we are building a research programme which will combine the clinical and health services assessment of primary prevention interventions in allergy and of therapeutic tolerance induction with investigations into the mechanisms of maintenance/induction of primary and secondary tolerance using both clinical material and pre-clinical models. 

Alternative Medicine

5. Personal vs. Professional time: can they be successfully combined?

From my experience personal time, in my case with a family, and professional time can be combined successfully, although the latter tends to encroach on the former.  During most of the year personal and professional time are fairly intertwined in my life and it helps to regard at least some of the professional activities as enjoyable, almost as if they were a hobby.  In addition I find it very useful to create clear boundaries once or twice a year where I tend to take a longer block of time for holidays with my family away from the temptation to continue working and thinking about professional matters. 

Advice for young scientists

6. Could you provide us with useful tips for junior allergists and scientists?

Whether you are a scientifically minded clinician or a basic researcher interested in allergy I can only encourage you to go ahead and make a career in this field of medicine.  Despite some impressive advances allergic disorders are still poorly understood and they affect a large part of the population in Europe.  Therefore research into allergies, as well as treating them, will remain an important endeavour and a very interesting one too.  The area will also continue to provide opportunities for careers for many of you. 
The “advice” I would give is very much based on my own experiences. It would be to be persistent and to follow your goals even if there are set backs (and there will be set backs), to be open minded to new ideas and to be collaborative, to work hard if necessary but not to forget your personal needs.  In choosing a training environment/laboratory I would look for the following factors: strong track record of solid research and recognised publications, evidence of interesting new ideas, agreeable working conditions and welcoming friendly team, workplace situated in a stimulating environment, ideally one different from where you’ve spent your life before.  Always go and visit a training programme/laboratory, if possible for several days, and do not only speak with the PIs but get a good impression of the entire work team. 

Allergies and the environment

7. Do you think that the global climate change has affected people with allergies?

I think that long-term increases in temperature will affect people with allergies particularly through changes in local flora and its seasonality.  However in comparison to other possible consequences of global warming like mass migration away from arid areas and ensuing conflicts, any changes in allergy patterns may be a minor problem by comparison. 

EAACI Activities

8. Which of the activities do you find more interesting in the Academy? Which ones do you find particularly educating?

I must admit that the only EAACI activities that I have made use of in the last few years are the annual conferences.  After attending them for several years these are still very important to me, on one hand since they provide a very good opportunity for continued clinical education in allergy and more recently they have also become an excellent forum for novel research in the field.  In addition the EAACI conferences are a great opportunity to meet colleagues and old friends and to network.  I am therefore very much looking forward to the upcoming EAACI conference this year in London. 

Field of practice / specialty

9. Tell us some problems that you face as a physician in your daily job.

As a paediatric allergist in the United Kingdom the main obstacles that I face in my clinical job is the lack of development of allergy services in primary care and the comparatively poor support of specialised allergy services in secondary and tertiary care, e.g. in major hospitals.  If anything children and adults in the United Kingdom are more often affected by allergies than elsewhere in Europe and the four countries of the UK still have a long way to go to provide adequate allergy services for the majority of those affected.  I therefore spend a fair bit of my time to increase the visibility of allergy and to promote the development of allergy services particularly in Scotland where I practise. 

Science and personal life

10. What do you believe about alternative medicine such as homeopathy, acupuncture etc?

Complimentary and alternative medicines are approaches to treatment that I have not been trained in and that I do not understand.  With my classical scientific background I am very sceptical of alternative treatments since I am not aware of scientifically acceptable evidence of their usefulness in the management of allergies.  It is important though to appreciate that part of the reason for the lack of clinical studies in this field is a lack of funding from industry, medical research councils and trusts. 
I am clearly opposed to “alternative treatment” approaches if they use potent drugs like steroids without declaring them properly, as I have seen on occasions.