Respiratory Disease

Lung diseases account for approximately 10% of all childhood hospitalisations. Lung infections including viral and bacterial and pneumonia account for more than half of admissions while acute asthma makes up at least 20%. One in eleven UK children currently suffers from asthma.

The Respiratory Medicine theme is translational, ranging from pre-clinical, experimental models, to interventional clinical trials of novel medicines. The overall vision is to improve respiratory health for children and young people of all ages and minimise any detrimental long-term impact on adult lung health.

Key interests include mechanisms driving severe asthma and preschool wheezing, lung infections, cystic fibrosis, and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia, with unique diagnostics including a world-leading bronchoscopic research programme.

The theme has integral links with expertise in basic immunology, systems biology and modelling, bioengineering, bioinformatics, lung physiology and detailed clinical phenotyping. We have close collaborations with colleagues in the Allergy, Primary Care and Acute Care themes.

Education and training are at the heart of our work. We have the highest number of national clinical grid paediatric respiratory trainees of any UK centre and we have at least 3 clinical fellows undertaking postgraduate degrees at any one time. We lead the airways disease modules of the Allergy MSc and have significant contribution to the undergraduate intercalated Respiratory BSc.

Our research and education is fully inclusive of the whole multidisciplinary team, including allied health professionals, clinicians, clinical academics and basic scientists.