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Professor Karen Waters

Professor
Paediatrics & Child Health, Children's Hospital, Westmead

D06 - Blackburn Building
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia

T: +61 2 9845 3441
F: +61 2 9845 3396
E:

Biographical details

Email now is karen.waters@sydney.edu.au

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Research interests

There are three research themes for A/Prof Waters group:

1. clinical studies in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children. At present, our main focus is on treatment outcomes, but we continue to evaluate the morbidities associated with OSA in children.

2. SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Our focus over the past 10 years has been the neuropathology of the brainstem in SIDS and correlations with clinical history, particularly prone sleeping or cigarette smoke exposure. Our focus now is to pursue the associations with cigarette smoke exposure.

3. Respiratory physiology during early development and effects of intermittent (hypercapnic) hypoxia.

We use the piglet as a model in the physiology studies of intermittent hypoxia and also in our neuropathology studies.

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Keywords

Respiratory tract diseases; Physiology; Child health; Sleep disorders; Neurosciences

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Publications

2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007

2013

   
  • Maclean, J., Tan, S., Fitzgerald, D., Waters, K. (2013), Assessing ventilatory control in infants at high risk of sleep disordered breathing: A study of infants with cleft lip and/or palate. Pediatric Pulmonology. 48(3), 265-273. [Abstract]
  • Bejjani, C., Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2013), The dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMNV) in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): Pathways leading to apoptosis. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology. 185(2), 203-210. [Abstract]
  • Daniel, M., Bailey, S., Walker, K., Hensley, R., Kol-Castro, C., Badawi, N., Cheng, A., Waters, K. (2013), Airway, feeding and growth in infants with Robin sequence and sleep apnoea. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology. 77(4), 499-503. [Abstract]

2012

   
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  • MacLean, J., Fitzsimons, D., Fitzgerald, D., Waters, K. (2012), The spectrum of sleep-disordered breathing symptoms and respiratory events in infants with cleft lip and/or palate. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 97(12), 1058-1063. [Abstract]
  • Tang, S., Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2012), Expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and TrkB receptor in the sudden infant death syndrome brainstem. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology. 180(1), 25-33. [Abstract]
  • Sillence, D., Waters, K., Donaldson, S., Shaw, P., Ellaway, C. (2012), Combined Enzyme Replacement Therapy and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Mucopolysacharidosis Type VI. In: JIMD Reports - Case and Research Reports, 2011/2. (pp.103-106).Germany: Springer.

2011

   
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  • Machaalani, R., Say, M., Waters, K. (2011), Effects of cigarette smoke exposure on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits α7 and β2 in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) brainstem. Toxicology and applied pharmacology. 257(3), 396-404. [Abstract]
  • Trivedi, A., Waters, K., Suresh, S., Nair, R. (2011), Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome: four families. Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung. 15(0), 785-9. [Abstract]
  • Caldwell, P., Hensley, R., Machaalani, R., Cheng, A., Waters, K. (2011), How effective is adenoidectomy alone for treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea in a child who presents with adenoid hypertrophy?. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 47(8), 568-571. [Abstract]
  • Cheng, A., Corke, M., Loughran-Fowlds, A., Birman, C., Hayward, P., Waters, K. (2011), Distraction osteogenesis and glossopexy for Robin sequence with airway obstruction. ANZ Journal of Surgery. 81(5), 320-325. [Abstract]

2010

   
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  • Machaalani, R., Kashi, P., Waters, K. (2010), Distribution of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits alpha7 and beta2 in the human brainstem and hippocampal formation. Journal of chemical neuroanatomy. 40(3), 223-31. [Abstract]
  • Waters, K. (2010), Serotonin in the sudden infant death syndrome. Drug News & Perspectives. 23(9), 537-548. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Gozal, E., Berger, F., Waters, K., Dematteis, M. (2010), Effects of Post-Mortem Intervals on Regional Brain Protein Profiles in Rats using SELDI-TOF MS Analysis. Neurochemistry international. 57(6), 655-61. [Abstract]
  • Tang, S., Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2010), Immunolocalisation of pro- and mature- brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and receptor TrkB in the human brainstem and hippocampus. Brain research. 1354, 1-14. [Abstract]
  • Relf, B., Larkin, E., Torres, C., Baur, L., Christodoulou, J., Waters, K. (2010), Genome-wide linkage of obstructive sleep apnoea and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in a Filipino family: bivariate linkage analysis of obstructive sleep apnoea. Journal of sleep research. 19(2), 349-57. [Abstract]
  • Browne, C., Sharma, N., Waters, K., Machaalani, R. (2010), The effects of nicotine on the alpha-7 and beta-2 nicotinic acetycholine receptor subunits in the developing piglet brainstem. International journal of developmental neuroscience : the official journal of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience. 28(0), 1-7. [Abstract]

2009

   
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  • Tang, S., Machaalani, R., Kashem, M., Matsumoto, I., Waters, K. (2009), Intermittent Hypercapnic Hypoxia Induced Protein Changes in the Piglet Hippocampus Identified by MALDI-TOF-MS. Neurochemical research. 34(12), 2215-25. [Abstract]
  • Maclean, J., Hayward, P., Fitzgerald, D., Waters, K. (2009), Cleft lip and/or palate and breathing during sleep. Sleep medicine reviews. 13(5), 345-54. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Say, M., Waters, K. (2009), Serotoninergic receptor 1A in the sudden infant death syndrome brainstem medulla and associations with clinical risk factors. Acta neuropathologica. 117(3), 257-65. [Abstract]
  • Maclean, J., Waters, K., Fitzsimons, D., Hayward, P., Fitzgerald, D. (2009), Screening for obstructive sleep apnea in preschool children with cleft palate. The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal. 46(2), 117-123. [Abstract]
  • Waters, K., Cheng, A. (2009), Adenotonsillectomy in the context of obstructive sleep apnoea. Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. 10(1), 25-31. [Abstract]

2008

   
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  • Tang, S., Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2008), Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and TrkB in the piglet brainstem after post-natal nicotine and intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia. Brain research. 1232(1232), 195-205. [Abstract]
  • Robinson, P., Waters, K. (2008), Are children just small adults? The differences between paediatric and adult sleep medicine. Internal medicine journal. 38(0), 719-31. [Abstract]
  • Waters, K. (2008), Interventions in the paediatric sleep laboratory: the use and titration of respiratory support therapies. Paediatric respiratory reviews. 9(3), 181-191. [Abstract]
  • Aouad, L., Tam, K., Waters, K. (2008), Effects of acute intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia on insulin sensitivity in piglets using euglycemic clamp. Metabolism: clinical and experimental. 57(8), 1056-1063. [Abstract]
  • MacLean, J., Fitzsimons, D., Hayward, P., Waters, K., Fitzgerald, D. (2008), The identification of children with cleft palate and sleep disordered breathing using a referral system. Pediatric pulmonology. 43(3), 245-250. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2008), Neuronal cell death in the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome brainstem and associations with risk factors. Brain. 131(Pt 1), 218-228. [Abstract]

2007

   
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  • Waters, K., Mast, B., Vella, S., De La Eva, R., O'Brien, L., Bailey, S., Tam, C., Wong, M., Baur, L. (2007), Structural equation modeling of sleep apnea, inflammation, and metabolic dysfunction in children. Journal of sleep research. 16(4), 388-395. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Radford, J., Waters, K. (2007), Tissue fixation effects on immunohistochemical staining of caspase-3 in brain tissue. Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology : AIMM / official publication of the Society for Applied Immunohistochemistry. 15(4), 463-470. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Arlotto, M., Waters, K., Gozal, E., Berger, F., Dematteis, M. (2007), A Novel Method of Tissue Collection and Storage: Validation Using SELDI-TOF MS Analysis. Clinical chemistry. 53(7), 1387-1389. [Abstract]
  • Say, M., Machaalani, R., Waters, K. (2007), Changes in serotoninergic receptors 1A and 2A in the piglet brainstem after intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia (IHH) and nicotine. Brain research. 1152, 17-26. [Abstract]
  • Tam, C., Wong, M., Tam, K., Aouad, L., Waters, K. (2007), The effect of acute intermittent hypercapnic hypoxia treatment on IL-6, TNF-alpha, and CRP levels in piglets. Sleep. 30(6), 723-727. [Abstract]
  • Machaalani, R., Rodriguez, M., Waters, K. (2007), Active caspase-3 in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) brainstem. Acta neuropathologica. 113(5), 577-584. [Abstract]
  • Young, H., Lowe, A., Fitzgerald, D., Seton, C., Waters, K., Kenny, E., Hynan, L., Iannaccone, S., North, K., Ryan, M. (2007), Outcome of noninvasive ventilation in children with neuromuscular disease. Neurology. 68(3), 198-201. [Abstract]