Our Speakers

• Professor Alice Turner

  Professor in respiratory medicine

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  Professor Alice Turner

  Professor in respiratory medicine University of Birmingham

  Role and Location
  Professor in Respiratory Medicine at University of Birmingham with clinical work focussing on AATD and COPD. 

  Education
  Alice graduated from the University of Leicester and has done postgraduate training via the Universities of Dundee and Birmingham, and Ashridge-Hult business school, completing a PhD focussed on COPD and alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and postgraduate qualifications in medical education, leadership and quality improvement (QI).

  Research Interest
  Dr Turner has ran phase 1-4 trials in AATD, including ones with liver outcomes, and has published widely on clinical features and management of AATD.
  

  Memberships
  She runs the largest AATD clinic and cohort in the UK, is research lead for the European pulmonary AATD registry (EARCO), chair of the ERS AATD guidelines group, a major contributor to the European AATD liver registry initiated by EASL and is an Alpha 1 Foundation board member.

• Dr Matthew Swallow

  Respiratory Lead and GP partner

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  Dr Matthew Swallow

  Respiratory Lead and GP partner Birmingham and Solihull

  Role and Location 
  Dr Swallow is a GP partner and trainer at Bournbrook Varsity Medical Centre.

  He is the Respiratory Lead for the SDSmyhealthcare federation. Dr Swallow works for Birmingham and Solihull ICB as Community Respiratory Champion.

  Education
  Matthew Swallow graduated from Peninsula Medical School in 2012. After completing his foundation training in the West Midlands, he joined the South Birmingham GP Vocational Training Scheme.

  He was awarded an Academic Clinical Fellow post at the University of Birmingham, working on several projects with the Birmingham Lung Improvement Studies team. He completed an MSc in ‘Clinical Primary and Community Care’ with a respiratory research focus.

  Research Interest
  In this role as Community Respiratory Champion , he is responsible for providing senior clinical leadership to the redesign of respiratory diagnostic and management pathways.

• Jayne Longstaff

  Respiratory Quality Improvement Nurse Lead

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  Jayne Longstaff

  Respiratory Quality Improvement Nurse Lead Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth

  Role and Location
  Respiratory Quality Improvement Nurse Lead

  Education
  Jayne is a qualified nurse and has a BSc in LTC (respiratory)
  

  Research Interest
  Jayne has published respiratory research and was involved in the development of the Wessex Asthma Toolbox and the national multi-award-winning MISSION asthma, COPD, and breathlessness project during her career. She has also developed, championed, and implemented improvements in inhaler technique and supported FeNO in primary care with work through NIOX and NICE.

  Memberships
  She is currently involved in the delivery and education of research and respiratory clinical care in general practice.

• Nazir Hussain

  Specialist Respiratory Pharmacist and Lead Pharmacist

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  Nazir Hussain

  Specialist Respiratory Pharmacist and Lead Pharmacist The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and the Black Country ICB

  Role and Location
  Specialist Respiratory Pharmacist at The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Respiratory work stream Lead Pharmacist for the Black Country ICB.

  Research Interest
  Nazir has a real passion for improving respiratory health and was one of the first pharmacists in primary care to be accredited as a Pharmacist with a Special Interest (PhwSI) in Respiratory Care. Throughout his career, he has been involved in several projects demonstrating the value of pharmacist prescribing. His pharmacist-led respiratory service in GP practices offers an alternative model of care to address respiratory health inequalities.
  Nazir has been shortlisted for several national awards because of his dedication to improving the lives of respiratory patients. He is passionate about fostering collaboration and integration across primary, secondary, and tertiary care to achieve better outcomes for respiratory patients and serves on several national committees.

  Memberships
  – Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) Executive Committee
  – Asthma + Lung UK Member of the Council of HCPs
  – Interstitial Lung Disease-IN (ILD-IN) Committee
  – Primary Care Pharmacy Association (PCPA) Regional Ambassador
  – NHS England Core20PLUS Ambassador
  – Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Expert Advisor (primary care)

• Dr Chris Kuo

  Consultant Respiratory Physician

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  Dr Chris Kuo

  Consultant Respiratory Physician Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

  Role and Location
  Dr. Chris Kuo is a consultant respiratory physician at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

  Education
  Dr Kuo has completed his training in the North of Scotland and holds an MD from the University of Dundee, where he focused on research into small airway dysfunction and cutting-edge biologic therapies for severe asthma.

  Research Interest
  Small Airways Dysfunction
  Biologic Therapies

• Dr Dan Neville

  Consultant Respiratory Physician and Honorary Senior Lecturer

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  Dr Dan Neville

  Consultant Respiratory Physician and Honorary Senior Lecturer Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and University of Portsmouth

  Role and Location
  Dr Dan Neville is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust who specialises in Severe Asthma and COPD and is part of the Portsmouth Severe Asthma Service. He is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth and an educator who is determined to transform the delivery of care to improve outcomes for patients who suffer from asthma and COPD. He cares passionately about sustainability in healthcare.

  Education
  He graduated with a distinction in clinical practice from Imperial College London and was awarded a CRN fellowship for his research into novel diagnostic technologies for airways disease.

• Professor Adel Mansur

  Consultant Physician and Honorary Professor

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  Professor Adel Mansur

  Consultant Physician and Honorary Professor Birmingham Regional Severe Asthma Service

  Role and Location
  Consultant Physician and Honorary Professor

  Education
  Adel Mansur graduated from Tripoli Medical College in Libya and had junior and higher medical training in Glasgow, Leeds and West Midlands and was awarded PhD in asthma genetics in 1998 by University of Leeds.
  He became consultant in respiratory / general medicine in 2002 at Heartlands hospital in Birmingham and has since been leading the tertiary severe asthma service in Birmingham.

  Research Interest
  Professor Mansur led on the development of the severe asthma network covering a region in central England of West Midlands, Gloucestershire and Derbyshire and is also a member of the UK severe asthma registry group. Provision of holistic care to patients presenting with severe/difficult to treat asthma was central to the asthma team development in Birmingham now formed of experienced multidisciplinary team of specialist nurses, physiotherapists, speech therapists, psychologists and pharmacist.
  Professor Mansur research interests range from asthma genetics, biomarkers in asthma and phenotyping, adherence optimisation, asthma comorbidities and clinical trials.
  Diversity and equity of care delivery is one of the priority area of his research interests originating from the ethnically diverse population severed by the asthma team and high prevalence of deprivation and unfavourable psychosocial condition affecting many patients in central city of Birmingham. He is currently conducting research on barriers to good care in the South Asian population with asthma.
  Professor Mansur was awarded honorary chair by institute of inflammation and ageing of the University of Birmingham in 2020, and has published 120 peer-reviewed research articles in the field of asthma.

• Ebenezer Akore Yeboah

  Nurse and PhD candidate

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  Ebenezer Akore Yeboah

  Nurse and PhD candidate Coventry

  Role and Location 
  Registered nurse and PhD candidate at Coventry University, UK

  Education
  He is a registered UK and Ghanaian nurse. He is an Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy and serves as a guest lecturer for the MSc Global healthcare management, Coventry University. He is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Chester and Birmingham Newman University. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Nursing at KNUST-Ghana.

  Research Interest
  His research interest is on the topic: Nursing in the context of climate change and sustainability. His clinical interest is accident and emergency care.

  Memberships
  Ebenezer is a sustainability subject expert group member at the Florence Nightingale Foundation.

• Dr James Allinson

  Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer and Consultant Respiratory Physician

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  Dr James Allinson

  Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer and Consultant Respiratory Physician NHLI and the Royal Brompton Hospital

  Role and Location
  Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at NHLI and a Consultant Respiratory Physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

  Education
  – PhD at Imperial College London, London, UK
  – MRCP Speciality Certificate Examination in Respiratory Medicine at Royal College of Physicians, London, UK
  – MRCP at the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK
  – BMBCh at the University of Oxford, UK
  – BA(hons) at the University of Oxford, UK

  Research Interests
  He leads research exploring how COPD and lung health develops across the life course aiming to find ways to improve the treatment of those with established disease. He has 77 publications in the field of Respiratory.

• Darush Attar-Zadeh

  Respiratory Lead Pharmacist

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  Darush Attar-Zadeh

  Respiratory Lead Pharmacist NWL Asthma Network (Children & Young People) and NHS RightBreathe

  Role and Location

  Darush Attar-Zadeh is the respiratory lead pharmacist for NWL Asthma Network (Children & Young People) and NHS RightBreathe. He has presented at various national & international conferences (including ERS, IPCRG, PCRS, CPC, Respiratory show) and was asked to help review the National Training Standards for Smoking Cessation. He is an active teacher and follower of the IPCRG Asthma Right Care social movement and enjoys spreading positive messages on how people can live much better with asthma. One of his main missions is to reduce health inequalities caused by tobacco and poor health care and spends a lot of his time teaching in deprived locations across the UK.

  Education

  BPharm, MFRPSII, IP

  Research

  Darush has published more than 25 clinical papers and writes teaching modules on various pharmacy platforms.

  Memberships

  He is Co-Chair of the TaskForce for Lung Health Medicines Optimisation group and part of the PCRS Executive Committee.

• Dr Tobi Ayorinde

  NIHR Clinical Lecturer

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  Dr Tobi Ayorinde

  NIHR Clinical Lecturer UCL

  Role and Location
  NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Transplantation, UCL

  Education
  Tobi Ayorinde read medicine at the University of Cambridge, followed by clinical training at UCL. He returned to Cambridge as an Organ Retrieval Surgeon, where he began combining his clinical and academic interests through his work on the PITHIA trial and other projects.

  Research
  Dr Ayorinde’s doctoral thesis was aimed at advancing quality assessments of kidney transplants. His work has earned national awards and has led to over 20 publications in renowned medical journals. Tobi’s writings have explored AI applications in renal pathology, surgical assessments of deceased donor kidneys, and the effects of social media on organ donation.  

• Nooria Azeez

  Advanced Clinical Pharmacist

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  Nooria Azeez

  Advanced Clinical Pharmacist Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  Role and Location
  Advanced Clinical Pharmacist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust/

  Education
  MPharm, MEd

  Research Interests
  Her main area of research interest is inhaler technique.

• Frances Barrett

  Respiratory Nurse Specialist

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  Frances Barrett

  Respiratory Nurse Specialist Belfast

  Role and Location

  Respiratory Nurse Specialist Belfast – associated lecturer in The University of Ulster and director and trainer for Barrett McGrath EMS Ltd.

  Education

  RGN, Bsc (Hons) first class honours Respiratory, level 4 teaching and assessing certificate.

  Research

  Practice real world research – qualitative.

  Memberships

  NMC, RCN, ARTP, PCRS & ARNS.

• Dr Anna Baverstock

  Consultant in Community Child Health

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  Dr Anna Baverstock

  Consultant in Community Child Health Somerset

  Role and Location
  Dr Anna Baverstock is a consultant in community child health looking after children with complex neurodisability and their families in Somerset. She has been an educational supervisor and Associate DME for support and wellbeing. She was invited to be a member of the NHS Staff and Learners’ Mental Wellbeing Commission in 2019. Currently she is lead for senior doctor wellbeing and leadership within her trust. Looking at organisation wide changes to support colleagues to thrive and work and reduce burnout.

  Research Interests
  Anna is a trained coach, mediator and Schwartz round facilitator. Her philosophy is how do we ensure the first patient of the shift and the last get the same kind, safe care? We must look after ourselves and our teams during our working day. A big part of this is how we connect to self and others especially when under pressure. Can we form brave spaces to enable honest conversation that enable growth and change? When not talking she loves to run, do yoga, read, draw and doodle often inspired by quotes or poems that resonate.

• Dr Sarah Baxter

  Principal Clinical Psychologist and Professional Lead

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  Dr Sarah Baxter

  Principal Clinical Psychologist and Professional Lead Respiratory Psychology at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

  Role and Location

  Dr Baxter is the Principal Clinical Psychologist and Professional Lead for Respiratory psychology at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals based at the Royal Preston Hospital site.

  Education

  Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych) and BSc (hons).

  Research

  Prevalence rates of anxiety and depression in patients with complex breathlessness.

  Memberships

  The Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).

• Dr Julia Bielicki

  Consultant Paediatrician and Researcher

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  Dr Julia Bielicki

  Consultant Paediatrician and Researcher St George's University of London and University Children's Hospital of Basel

  Role and Location
  Consultant paediatrician and a researcher at St George’s University of London and the University Children’s Hospital of Basel.

  Education
  Masters of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
  

  Research Interests
  Dr Bielicki was part of the core team of the Antibiotic Resistance and Prescribing in European Children project, one of the largest international collaborations on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in children to date. Her current research focuses on developing appropriate surveillance methodology to assess childhood antibiotic resistance and make surveillance data accessible for clinical practice. Recently Dr Bielicki took the lead in developing a successful proposal for a large UK-based randomized factorial trial of antibiotic dose and duration in childhood community-acquired pneumonia under the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.