Archives: Courses

This talk by professor Mona Bafadhel focuses on Eosinophilis in COPD as a major healthcare burden and cause of mortality worldwide.

Learning Objectives

Eosinophilis in COPD
COPD as a major healthcare burden and cause of mortality worldwide
Exacerbations are a hallmark of COPD
Damage from exacerbations goes beyond the lungs
Biology-led approaches in COPD
Eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic COPD: Blood
COPD and Asthma
Monoclonal antibodies in eosinophilic COPD?

Professor Mona Bafadhel Background

Mona Bafadhel holds the positions of Chair in Respiratory Medicine at King’s College London and Director of the recently established King’s Centre for Lung Health. Additionally, she works as a consultant respiratory physician at the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Her areas of interest in both clinical and research are asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). With a strong desire to use clinical research to better patient outcomes, Mona is a leading international academic in the field of respiratory medicine. Her research on COVID-19 and COPD has changed therapeutic practices that impact millions of people worldwide. The Royal College of Physicians bestowed to Mona the Goulstonian Lectureship in 2018 in recognition of her achievements in the clinical sciences. She is the first woman from an ethnic minority and just the fourth overall.

This talks by Professor Nicholas Hopkinson covers COPD as a structural violence.

Professor Nicholas Hopkinson background

Nicholas Hopkinson is professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College and an honorary consultant physician at Royal Brompton Hospital. He qualified in medicine at Cambridge University and the London Hospital Medical College and went on to train in respiratory and general internal medicine at St George’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital.

Professor Hopkinson is clinical lead for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at Royal Brompton Hospital. This includes systematic evaluation of patients within a multidisciplinary team and addressing issues such as: hypoxia, recurrent exacerbations, alpha one antitrypsin deficiency, early onset disease.

His major research interest looks at the causes of exercise limitation in patients with COPD, and his publications have looked at the: effect of pulmonary rehabilitation, influence of genetic polymorphisms, the effect of dietary nitrate supplementation, lung volume reduction techniques for emphysema, singing for lung health as an approach to relieve breathlessness in COPD and other conditions.

Working with the NW London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research (CLAHRC), Professor Hopkinson has developed a more systematic Care Bundle for COPD patients as they are discharged. Addittionally, he has published work on tobacco uptake among children and in support of tobacco control measures, such as standardised packaging and smoke-free legislation.

Moreover, the NIHR, Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, European Union, British Lung Foundation, and Moulton Foundation have all funded professor Hopkinson’s work.

This talk by Dr Rigby covers the significance of chest pain in children and adolescents.

Dr Rigby explains how chest pain is common in children and adolescent ages 8 to 18. This leads to the importance of aetiology which is often evident when taking a detailed history of the patient.

The talk explains the most common type of chest pain and next steps to take when dealing with patients with those symptoms.

Dr Michael Rigby Background

Dr Michael Rigby is a consultant paediatric cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital, specialising in interventional cardiac catheterisation in congenital heart disease in children and young adults.

Prior to this role, Dr Rigby trained at the Killingbeck Hospital in Leeds, the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

This talk by Dr Jamilah Meghji covers “the intersection of TB and Chronic Lung Diseases in LMIC”

Dr Jamilah Meghji Background

Dr Jamilah Meghji is a Consultant Respiratory Physician in Cambridge, UK, with a special interest in tuberculosis and respiratory infection. Her research has used mixed methods to describe the burden and impact of post-TB lung disease on the lives and livelihoods of TB survivors in East Africa. She has an interest in the diagnosis and management of TB co-morbidities, including chronic respiratory diseases, within TB services in low-resource settings.

This talk by Dr James Allinson provides an overview of how early childhood respiratory infections are linked to adult respiratory disease.

Dr James Allinston Background

Dr Allinson is a consultant respiratory physician at Royal Brompton Hospital, working in the fields of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and respiratory failure.

Dr Allinson graduated in 2002 from St Peter’s College, University of Oxford and completed his postgraduate training at Oriel College, University of Oxford, in 2005. He trained in respiratory and general medicine in London and was awarded a PhD from Imperial College London in 2018.

Dr Allinson’s research interests include how airways disease develops across life and how to identify the early stages of COPD development. His research also addresses how to improve the management of already established COPD. Dr Allinson is the primary investigator on an Asthma + Lung UK Project Grant.

This talk by Parris William focuses on “why we need to enmbed smoking cessation services into targeted lung health checks”.

This talk by Dr Dexter J Wiseman covers “RSV as a Cause of COPD Exacerbation and Beyond: The Hidden Annual Epidemic“.

Dr Dexter Wiseman Background

Dr Dexter Wiseman has an honorary positions at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS trust and the National Heart and Lung Institute as clinical research fellows and senior practitioners, respectively.

Dexter is now working at Professor Jadwiga ‘Wisia’ Wedzicha’s lab as part of his research study. In the past, he assisted in managing the London COPD exacerbation cohort. His research interests include the role of viruses in COPD flare-ups. In order to complete his PhD, he examined the part that RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) plays both during flare-ups and times of stability.

In order to better understand the immunological indicators of RSV susceptibility in COPD patients, Dexter collaborates closely with Professor Peter Openshaw and Dr. Ryan Thwaites through the international partnership RESCEU (Respiratory Syncytial virus partnership in Europe).

This talk focuses on all aspects of COPD diagnosis and management, from primary to secondary care.

Learning objectives:

Definition of COPD
Diagnosis and Management in Primary and Secondary Care
Awareness of novel therapies available and referral pathways

Dr Justin Garner Background

Dr Justin Garner qualified from Imperial College School of Medicine, UK, in 2008. He trained as a respiratory specialist in the North-West Thames deanery and completed his PhD in Interventional Bronchoscopy under Professors Pallav Shah and Omar Usmani in 2020. He has worked as a consultant respiratory physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital since October 2021 in the department of lung cancer and interventional bronchoscopy.

Dr Justin Garner has specialist expertise in: management of lung cancer and pulmonary nodules, lung volume reduction (e.g., endobronchial valves) and novel interventional therapies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Bronchial thermoplasty for severe asthma and diagnostic and interventional bronchoscopy. 

Dr Justin Garner’s research interests include small airways disease, inflammatory biomarkers, and medical device innovation.

Dr Justin Garner has published multiple articles and book chapters on various respiratory topics including interventional bronchoscopy techniques for severe COPD (including endobronchial valves), severe asthma, and lung cancer.

This talk by Prof Paul Friedman focuses on Artificial intelligence and the ECG. More specifically, how the power of AI can transform electrocardiography for enhance diagnosis and prognosis.

Professor Paul Friedman Background

Professor Paul Friedman is the Norman Blane and Billie Jean Harty Chair, Mayo Clinic Department of Cardiovascular Medicine Honouring Robert L. rye, MD. Since 1998 he is consultant in the Division of Heart Rhythm Services and the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering. Dr Friedman is recognised with the distinction of the Edward W. and Betty Knight Scripps Professorship in Cardiovascular Medicine in Honour of George M. Gura, Jr., M.D.

NIH grants and multi-centre international studies supported Prof Friedman research on procedural treatment of arrhythmia. He has contributed to over 40 patents. Additionally he has built a team focusing on AI to improve the diagnosis and treatment of CV diseases. He is prolific author of articles, books, chapters, editorials, abstracts and letters, servers on the editorial boards of many prestigious journals and has received many awards and honours.

In addition to his clinical and research activities, Dr Friedman has contributed extensively to education through curriculum and couse development and teaching. He holds teaching/examining privileges in Clinical and Translational Science at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Tags AI and ECG, Cardiovascular Diseases, ECG, Prof Paul Friedman

This talk covers the topic of Spirometry and race-based medicine past and present.

Dr Gabrielle Liu Background

Dr. Gabrielle Liu, MD is a Pulmonologist in Chicago. She graduated from The Univeristy of Chicaco Hospital – Roosevelt University. Dr Liu is currently an Instructor of Medicine at Northwestern University in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. She engages in research on early predictors of interstitial lung disease under the NIH F32 grant. Her interests span from interstitial lung disease, population health, environmental health, to understanding the transition from lung health to lung disease.

This talk covers the topic of primary care and the cardiac patient. This is a broad subject which Professor Rosen has narrowed down to cover the below 5 topic.

Primary prevention of coronary disease
Secondary prevention of coronary artery disease
Management of hypertension in primary care
Antipltelet therapy
What’s new in heart failure

Professor Stuart Rosen Background

Professor Stuart Rosen is a consultant cardiologist who along with Dr Lyon and Dr Sharma set up the UK’s first cardio-oncology unit at Royal Brompton Hospital.

The unit provides bespoke care for those patients who have developed cardiac problems or are at risk of cardiotoxicity as a result of their cancer treatment.

Professor Rosen is also passionate about education and teaching his peers on cardiology where he speaks on topics such as cardiac pain, heart failure and neurocardiology.

Professor Stuart Rosen is a consultant cardiologist specialising in treating difficult hypertension, syncope, heart failure and all aspects of general adult cardiology.

Additionally, his expertise in technical skills include stress echo, ultrafiltration for decompensated heart failure, tilt testing and autonomic assessment and transoesophageal echocardiography

The British Heart Foundation and Medical Research Council have both funded Professor Rosens’ cardiovascular research in: effect of alcohol excess on heart function, mechanisms of heart injury in cancer patients, origins of complex cardiac pain syndromes, and role of cardiac autonomic dysfunction in pathophysiology of cardiac disease.

Moreover, professor Rosen has written numerous peer-reviewed articles, papers, abstracts, editorials and eight book chapters as well as writing a book, ‘Cardiology: Self assessment Colour Review’, published by CRC Press.

Professor Rosen has twice been awarded a prize for excellence in clinical teaching by the faculty of medicine and he supervises postgraduate, MD and PhD students. He also has extensive teaching commitments in ethics and law, medicine and cardiology for medical undergraduates.

This talk by Professor Polkey titles “Spleep: Worth Getting out of Bed for?” covers the topic of sleeps in patients with sleep apnea and how treatment can improve this disorder.

Professor Michael Polkey Background

Professor Michael Polkey is an academic and continues as a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London.

Both Qatar and Kuwait invited him as a professor due to his expertise and knowledge in respiratory medicine and also acts in a clinical capacity in providing second opinions on patient diagnoses.

Moreover, professor Polkey specialises in many respiratory conditions, including: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory aspects of neurological disease, advanced lung disease which results in respiratory failure, sleep disordered breathing, emphysema, diaphragm disease.

In particular, he is an expert in the management of chronic respiratory failure, treating COPD, weaning patients from invasive mechanical ventilation and he is an expert in neurological diseases as motor neurone disease (MND) known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funds the respiratory biomedical research unit at Royal Brompton Hospital and Professor Polkey is the deputy director. Prof Polkey acquired and directed many multi-faceted research projects, with many focused around COPD.

He has nearly 200 published scientific articles and sits as an associate editor for the European Respiratory Journal and Clinical Science. He is active on the board of Skeletal Muscle and the COPD journals and is well established in reviewing for all other major respiratory journals.

Professor Polkey supervises and examines PhD students at Imperial College London, and trains overseas students at Royal Brompton Hospital. He is also in demand on a global level as an international speaker.

This talk by Professor Nicholas Hart focuses on the “Game Changing trials in Home Mechanical Ventilation”.

Professor Nicholas Hart Background

He is professor of respiratory and critical care medicine, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, School of Basic and Medical BioSciences, King’s College London. He is also director of research and development delivery, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. And joint editor-in-chief, Thorax.

Lane Fox Respiratory service, an internationally recognised weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation service, appointed Nicholas as the director in April 2012. Since taking over, he has increased the activity by the introduction of seven-day working, opened the Lane Fox-REMEO Centre, re-structured the outpatient clinics, outpatient service and home ventilation service and increased the acuity of the inpatient service with installation of a comprehensive electronic patient record and central monitoring system. This has required an enhancement of the specialist workforce including consultants, junior doctors, nurses, allied health care professionals, technicians and administrative staff to support the service across paediatrics and adults.

Nicholas has developed a technology that has an intellectual property patent in the Europe (US pending) and this has resulted with close collaborative industry links with Philips. He has a master research agreement with Philips to develop and commercialise the Myotrace technology, which involved supervising a signal processing engineer working in the Lane Fox Clinical Respiratory Physiology Research Centre. Nicholas was appointed to the Philips Global Executive Pulmonary Advisory Board in 2014 with a primary role to identify and develop new technologies for respiratory health.

Nicholas’ research has received a total grant income of over £7 million with over £3.5 million in grants as lead applicant or primary supervisor since 2007.

Since 2009, he has successfully supervised seven students coming from the following universities: King’s College London PhD students, University College London, and Oxford University.

Tags respiratory

This talk by Dr Alexander Lyon on “heart problems in cancer patients and the new ESC cardio-oncology guidelines” sheds light on how modern cancer therapies cure cancer but might cause heart problems.

Dr Alexander Lyon Background

Dr Alexander Lyon, consultant cardiologist is the heart failure team lead and the cardiovascular biomedical research unit lead at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals.

He studied at the University of Oxford, then trained as a junior doctor in cardiology in Oxford, London and also in Sydney, Australia. In 2005, he was awarded an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship and studied the influence of cardiac gene therapy on ventricular arrhythmia generation. In 2008 he completed his PhD and finished his cardiology training at St Mary’s Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital.

Moreover, he has received several academic awards from the British Society for Cardiovascular Research, British Cardiovascular Society, Medical Research Society, International Society of Heart Research and the Royal Society of Medicine.

Dr Alexander Lyon is an expert in hypertension, heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy and specialises in heart failure, cardiac gene therapy, Takotsubo syndrome, cardiovascular diseases caused by cancer treatments, known as cardio-oncology, chemotherapy-induced heart failure and novel molecular and biological therapies for heart failure. He runs a specialist clinic focusing on risk prediction and management of refractory symptoms for patients with Takotsubo syndrome.

Dr Lyon also specialises in the investigation of cardiac symptoms like breathlessness, dizzy spells, chest pain, palpitations, and general cardiac health checks to guide risk factor management.

Dr Alexander Lyon is a senior lecturer at Imperial College London, where he supervises PhD students. He has presented at national and international meetings on regenerative medicine therapy in heart failure, chemotherapy-induced cardiac dysfunction and heart failure, cardiac calcium pathophysiology and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

Prof. Thomas Muenzel covers the impacts and effects that Environmental Hazards have on Cardiovascular Disease.

Professor Thomas Muenzel Background

Professor Muenzel is currently the Chairmain of the Department of Cardiology at the University Medical Centre in Mainz, Germany.

Prof. Muenzel had published vastly in vascular biology and cardiology, alike; He made major contributions in the molecular mechanism and clinical effects of nitroglycerin and most recently, has focused his interest on environmental injuries on the cardiovascular system and its implications for cardiovascular health and disease; he has really pioneered this field that is currently centre stage worldwide. Based on his work he coined the term “exposome” as a new focus in cardiovascular prevention including environmental injuries.

He also held a faculty position at the University Hospital Eppendorf, Hamburg and has help his position since 2004.

Tags Cardiology

SARCOIDOSIS IN PRIMARY CARE

This short talk on “Sarcoidosis in Primary Care” aims to assist general practitioners to consider sarcoidosis as a possible explanation for patients presenting with typical as well as non-specific symptoms and signs suggestive of this disease.

Early consideration of sarcoidosis as a possibility and referral to specialist sarcoidosis centres by GPs could prevent progression of symptoms and speed up the identification of extra pulmonary complications that can be life-threatening

DR. VASILIS KOURANOS BACKGROUND

Dr Vasilis Kouranos completed his training in respiratory medicine in 2013 at the General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases, the largest university hospital in Athens.

Dr Kouranos’ PhD at the University of Athens focused on screening CMR patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis. He was awarded a research scholarship grant for the study and his PhD was awarded in 2017 after his work was published in a high-impact journal which influences current practice in the field.

Dr Kouranos joined the Royal Brompton hospital as a clinical research fellow to Professor Athol Wells and in 2016 he was offered the role of senior clinical fellow and in parallel, acting consultant in the interstitial lung disease department.

He has great experience in management of patients with sarcoidosis, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis.