Dr Paul Turner - Senior Clinical Lecturer
Dr Paul Turner is one of the module leaders on the postgraduate programme in Allergy. He tells us about his area of research and his career highlights to date.
What is your role at NHLI?
I am a Clinical Scientist and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Allergy and Immunology.
What is your research about?
I lead a programme which seeks to better understand the pathophysiology of severe allergic reactions to food, and how this impacts upon allergen risk management and the use of precautionary allergen labelling by food-allergic consumers. I am also interested in the safety of vaccines which contain food proteins, in children with food allergies or asthma.
What have been the highlights of your career path so far?
By far, getting to know the amazing patients and their families who have volunteered for the clinical studies. The other two highlights have to be the changes to UK immunisation policy driven by work we have done at Imperial, and my being chosen to receive the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Phadia Allergy Research Forum (PhARF) 2020 award.
What led you to choosing your career in this particular field?
A very clever neonatologist told me not to be an neonatologist but to do immunology instead.
What is your favourite part of your role at NHLI?
Working in a world-class organisation where colleagues care about each other.
What advice would you give yourself as a young person about to start your career?
Talk to as many people as you can, and come up with a niche area which you can own.
What would you be doing if you weren’t in the world of academia or science?
No idea!
What advice would you give to students considering joining NHLI?
It's a amazing chance to meet amazing people (students and staff alike) and be at the cutting edge of medical research.