The HMRI Viruses, Infections / Immunity, Vaccines and Asthma (VIVA) Program draws together 92 researchers and 36 research students from clinical and biomedical fields at the University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Health.

The VIVA Program is led by Professor Paul Foster from the University of Newcastle and Professor Peter Gibson from Hunter New England Health, and is focused on research into:

• Viral infections and viral oncolysis
• Infections and immunity
• Vaccine development
• Asthma and airway diseases

The VIVA Program has a strong national and international reputation, bringing together clinical, applied, epidemiological and basic scientific research to approach clinical health problems in asthma, airway diseases, infections, vaccinations and immunology. These key themes use both basic scientific and clinical research to provide an understanding of the progression of infectious and respiratory diseases.

Hunter research is making significant contributions in the development of treatments that can lead to improved health outcomes in asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease, and to vaccines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

The researchers working on respiratory diseases are affiliated with the University of Newcastle Priority Research for Asthma and Respiratory Diseases, as well as the national Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Asthma and Airways.

Researchers in the VIVA Program also work closely with other HMRI research programs, as well as researchers working with two local biotechnology companies, Virolytics and Hunter Immunology.