Dr Hayley Lewthwaite

I am an accredited exercise physiologist with Exercise and Sports Science Australia, and postdoctoral research fellow with the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Treatable Traits. 

My Research

I aim to improve the health and wellbeing of the 7.5 million Australians who live with a chronic lung condition. Conditions like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and long COVID are leading causes of disease burden, and the prevalence and impact of these conditions are increasing with an ageing population, more frequent extreme weather events, and environmental pollution. 

For people living with chronic lung conditions, breathlessness (or dyspnoea) contributes substantially to disease burden. It impacts people’s emotional wellbeing, sleep, and the ability to engage in self-care, social, leisure, and physical activities — every facet of life. Like for people who experience pain, which has comparable neurophysiological mechanisms, prevalence, and impact, people who experience breathlessness deserve safe and effective treatments. However, breathlessness is often under recognised and under treated by health professionals. My research addresses this, by improving how breathlessness is assessed so it’s true severity is recognised, and exploring potential management strategies. 

Current research themes

• Exploring physiological mechanisms of breathlessness 
  • During exercise with cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) 
  • In daily life with wearable technology
• Identifying approaches to better assess exertional breathlessness 
• Optimising exercise prescription for chronic lung disease, including long COVID

I am currently recruiting Honours, Masters and PhD students. Please reach out to discuss your research interests.

Some of the projects I am working on include: 

Exploring use of wearable technology for assessing symptoms and physiology in real life 

Breathlessness arises from pathophysiological changes in the airways and lungs, which reduce the capacity to increase ventilation (i.e., capacity to breathe), particularly problematic with physical activity or exercise. These pathological changes are typically explored with laboratory-based exercise testing. However, the development of wearable smart shirt technology provides a unique opportunity to assess how people’s heart and lungs work in real-life. I am exploring the feasibility of using such technology, and if it provides healthcare providers valuable information to better inform symptom management. 

Understanding breathlessness in people with asthma

For many people, treating their asthma with standard pharmacological therapy does not help to relieve breathlessness. This may be because there are many different causes of breathlessness. My research aims to identify what these different mechanisms might be to help direct appropriate treatment strategies. This includes exploring the role of vocal cord dysfunction and involves use of continuous laryngoscopy during incremental exercise testing.

Optimising exercise prescription for people with COPD

I am evaluating use of lung-specific parameters derived from cardiopulmonary exercise testing as a method to better prescribe exercise for people with COPD. We know that exercise has extensive health benefits for people with chronic lung disease; however, breathlessness is often a barrier to participation. Using lung-specific parameters may help to provide personalised exercise at an intensity that is high enough to obtain maximal benefits, but not too high to cause intolerable breathlessness. 

Exercise for long COVID  

Long COVID is when symptoms (like breathlessness, fatigue) persist for more than 12 weeks following acute COVID-19. These symptoms impact people’s ability to be active. I have developed guidelines for returning to physical activity after COVID, and look to understand how we can help people with long COVID be active while living with symptoms. This is particularly important for people with conditions like diabetes and heart disease who use exercise to help manage their disease.