Selected translational research priorities from the EMBARC roadmap [19]
| Key translational research questions | Recommendations |
| What causes bronchiectasis? | DNA biobanks linked to well-phenotyped patient cohorts should be established to enable underlying genetic susceptibility to bronchiectasis to be established. |
| What causes bronchiectasis exacerbations? | A comprehensive study enrolling patients when stable and during exacerbation should be conducted, evaluating the impact of bacteria, viruses, fungi and noninfectious stimuli to identify the cause(s) of bronchiectasis exacerbations. |
| Development of new therapies and biomarkers | A deeper understanding of the inflammatory pathways in bronchiectasis is needed to develop new therapies. We recommend using emerging techniques and technologies (particularly proteomics, metabolomics and genomics) in large, well-characterised cohorts to identify new treatment targets and deeper patient phenotyping. |
| How does the microbiome impact patient outcomes in bronchiectasis? | We suggest studies of the microbiome (incorporating bacteria and potentially fungi) in bronchiectasis linked to detailed clinical phenotyping data. |
| Why do some patients become infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa? | Mechanistic studies investigating the genetic, microbiological, inflammatory and clinical susceptibility factors for P. aeruginosa colonisation should be conducted. |