Nikos Papadopoulos joined the University of Manchester in 2014. He is also Professor of Allergy and Pediatric Allergy at the University of Athens,  and Past President of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI, www.eaaci.org). His main research focus is the role of infections in respiratory (asthma, rhinitis), as well as food allergy, with extensive collaborations in the context of EU Projects, such as SynAir-G, CURE, EARIP, iFAAM, FAST and PreDicta. He has published more than 500 papers (h-index: >100), has received a number of international awards and is invited to speak at international scientific meetings some 30 times a year. He has served in committees of EAACI, GA2LEN, WAO, EFA and ARIA.

Although allergic symptoms have been traditionally associated with allergens such as pollen, mites, pets, etc, the most severe and exaggerated allergic responses (asthma exacerbations) follow viral respiratory infections, ie common colds. The same infections, most often caused by human rhinoviruses (RVs), are frequently present in the first apperance of respiratory allergy. Moreover, it seems that repeated infections may drive persistence of asthma and evolution of wheeze into asthma.

Our research focuses into the mechanisms underlying virus-induced asthma exacerbations, the suboptimal immune response of allergic individuals to respiratory viruses and the properties that so often make RVs the culprits of these events. We have shown that RVs are able to infect the lower airway epithelium and induce local inflammation and have the capacity of inducing airway remodeling. RVs evolve in order to avoid immune recognition. 

More recently, we have explored the totality of the human airway metagenome, realizing that pathophysiological changes are probably the result of microbial derangement, rather than the effects of a single microorganism. We are thus looking into the characteristics of microbial dysbiosis that are associated with allergy and asthma.

Food allergy is clearly triggered by specific foods, however, the threshold and intensity of a reaction can often be determined by co-factors. Infection is, anecdotally, frequently among them. Following  studies looking into the incidence of food allergy in Europe (EUROPREVALL), as well as evaluating potential treatments (FAST), we are currently interested in the natural history of food allergy and the involvement of viral infection as a co-factor. We have also initiated a large trial to investigate the effect of partially hydrolysed formula on the natural history of allergy to cow's milk in infants (DREAM).