Biographies
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Conference Directors
Scientific Advisory Board Members
Professor A. G. N. Agustí
Hospital Universitario Son Dureta
Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
Professor Alvar Agustí is currently Head of the Pulmonary Service at the University Hospital Son Dureta, Executive Director of the Fundación Caubet-Cimera and Scientific Director of the National Spanish Center for Respiratory Research (CIBER Enfermedade Respiatorias).
Professor Agustí’s main research interests include COPD and sleep disorders. He has published more than 200 papers and has over 30 contributions to books. He is regularly invited to speak at international conferences and symposia.
Professor Agustí is a member of several professional societies, including the American Thoracic Society, and the European Respiratory Society (ERS), in which he has been a Member of its Executive Committee. He is also member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of the Balearic Islands and Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (UK).
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Gary Anderson
Lung Disease Research Group, Depts. Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Gary Anderson is a pharmacologist and immunologist whose career has focused on finding new treatments for asthma and COPD. He has contributed to the development of three new medicines and authored over 120 research papers. His research is best known for developing refined models of lung disease using compound genetic defects to understand the most difficult aspects of severe asthma, COPD and its comorbidities and the COPD-lung cancer nexus.
In 2006 he was awarded of the Research Medal of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand for his contribution to lung disease research. Most recently he and his team introduced the concept of disease endotypes, identified SAA as a novel COPD biomarker and helped define the molecular basis of the detrimental effect of smoke on immunity.
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Dr. Sonia Buist
Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon, USA.
Dr. Sonia Buist is currently Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon, USA. She is presently Chair of the Global Initiative on Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). She has held numerous positions in the American Thoracic Society and was President in 1990-91.
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Peter Barnes
Professor of Thoracic Medicine, National Heart & Lung Institute and Head of Respiratory Medicine, Imperial College London
Peter Barnes is Professor of Thoracic Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Head of Respiratory Medicine at Imperial College and Honorary Consultant Physician at Royal Brompton Hospital, London. He qualified at Cambridge and Oxford Universities was appointed to his present post in 1987.
He has published over 1000 peer-review papers on asthma, COPD and related topics and has edited over 40 books.
He is also amongst the top 50 most highly cited researchers in the world and has been the most highly cited clinical scientist in the UK and the most highly cites respiratory researcher in the world over the last 20 years. He is currently a member of the Scientific Committee of the WHO/NIH global guidelines on asthma (GINA) and COPD (GOLD). He also serves on the Editorial Board of over 30 journals and is currently an Associate Editor of Chest. He has given several prestigious lectures, including the Amberson Lecture at the American Thoracic Society and the Sadoul Lecture at the European Respiratory Society.
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PMA Calverley
Professor of Respiratory Medicine, University of Liverpool; Honorary Consultant Physician , University Hospital Aintree
After graduating in Edinburgh and working there and in Montreal , Professor Calverley moved to Liverpool in 1985. He has published extensively on COPD and contributed to many international meetings and Guideline groups. He is a past President of the British Thoracic Society and currently chairs the Department of Health External Reference Group developing a National Service Framework for COPD care in England.
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Richard Casaburi
Richard Casaburi is Associate Chief for Research and Professor of Medicine, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Physiology and Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California. He is also Director of the Clinical Respiratory Physiology Laboratory and the Medical Director of the Rehabilitation Clinical Trials Center.
Professor Casaburi pursued a research career in biomedical engineering, receiving a PhD from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, before qualifying in medicine from the University of Miami School of Medicine. He is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society and the Journal of COPD. He has authored 200 publications and 160 abstracts.
Dr. Casaburi holds the Grancell/Burns Endowed Chair in the Rehabilitative Sciences at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He is President of the Pulmonary Education and Research Foundation, a non-profit corporation dedicated to advancing the scientific basis and practice of pulmonary rehabilitation.
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Professor Bart Celli
Bartolome Celli graduated from Universidad Central de Venezuela, completed his training in Internal Medicine, and was Chief Medical Resident, at the Boston City Hospital.
He then trained in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. Currently, he is Professor of Medicine at Tufts University and Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston.
Dr. Celli has published over 300 scientific papers and edited several books related to COPD. His primary research interest is in COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation, exercise, respiratory muscles and control of breathing. The laboratory he directs has concentrated on biomarkers and outcomes of this disease. He is Co-Chairperson of the ATS Committee that established the Standards for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with COPD and ex-member of the GOLD executive committee.
He is past Chairman of the Clinical Assembly of the ATS and past President of the Massachusetts Thoracic Society and New England College of Chest Physicians. His trainees have spread around Boston, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Latin America.
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Dr Brendan Cooper
Consultant Clinical Scientist, University Hospital Birmingham (UK)
Brendan is currently Chair of Assembly 9 (Allied Health Professionals) in the European Respiratory Society. Dr Cooper was elected Honorary Chair of the Association for Respiratory Technology & Physiology for 1998-2007 and was Chair of ERS Group 9.1 from 2005-2008. His research interests involve the study of many aspects of respiratory physiology measurement in both the awake and sleeping patient. He has developed an interest in the development of respiratory diagnostic services in the community.#
He has published over 40 original scientific papers, chapters and reviews and is editor or co-editor of several books. He has lectured on the topics of spirometry and lung function throughout the world.
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Robert O Crapo, M.D.
Professor of Medicine at the University of and Medical Director of the Pulmonary Lab at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City
Robert O. Crapo is a Professor of Medicine at the University of and Medical Director of the Pulmonary Lab at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah where his primary interests are in pulmonary function testing and the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung diseases.
He is a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Dr. Crapo serves on the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute’s Asthma Clinical Research Network Protocol Review Committee. He has been a member of the American Thoracic Society Committee on Proficiency Standards for Clinical Pulmonary Laboratories since 1983 and has chaired the committee since 1993. The committee has recently published international standards for pulmonary function testing in collaboration with the European Respiratory Society.
The independent testing laboratory at LDS Hospital tests most pulmonary function instruments for accuracy and precision before they come to market. He provides teaching and quality control oversight for pulmonary function tests performed as part of NHLBI and pharmaceutical company studies. He has also served as member of the Asthma Clinical Research Network's protocol review committee. Publications include 115 original manuscripts, 16 reviews, and 19 monographs or book chapters. More importantly, he is married to Susan Edman Crapo. We have four children and two delightful grandchildren.
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Marc Decramer
Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Respiratory Division at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Marc Decramer is Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Respiratory Division at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He trained as a chest physician at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is board certified since 1984.
He serves on the Program Committee of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Respiratory Structure and Function Assembly, and is former President of the Belgian Pneumology Association.
Professor Decramer was the Editor of the European Respiratory Journal from 1999 till 2002, and is also reviewer for many other respected respiratory journals. He was Scientific Programme Committee Chairman of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) from 1995 till 1999.
Professor Decramer has authored over 200 academic papers in the field of respiratory disease, and presented widely at international symposia. His current research interests lie in the study of the respiratory and peripheral muscles in COPD patients. Further interests include exercise physiology, pharmacotherapy, and rehabilitation in patients with COPD.
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Leonardo M. Fabbri
Professor of Respiratory Medicine - Director Department of Respiratory Diseases University of Modena & Reggio Emilia Via del Pozzo 71,I-41100 MODENA - Italy
LMF is Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Director of the Section of Respiratory Diseases of the Department of Medicine of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
He leads a multicenter research group at the Universities of Modena, Ferrara and Padua on the role of inflammation in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. He is President Elect of the ERS.
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Dr Steve Holmes
General Practitioner; Somerset (UK)
Steve has worked as a general practitioner since 1989. He has been chair of the General Practice Airways Group and worked with the British Thoracic Society, British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK as well as Royal Colleges and several UK universities on a variety of respiratory and medical education projects. He currently works part time in practice and part time at Somerset PCT.
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Dr Rupert Jones
Clinical Research Fellow, Respiratory Research Unit, Peninsula Medical School, Plymouth, UK
Dr Jones leads the Respiratory Research Unit at the Peninsula Medical School. His research interests include psychological factors in COPD, pulmonary rehabilitation, education and self-management. He developed Lung Information Needs Questionnaire, LINQ, www.linq.org.uk, and an IT based system of assessment and management of patients with COPD according to guidelines.
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Professor William MacNee
ELEGI Colt Laboratory MRC/uoE Centre for Inflammation Research Level 2, The Queen’s Medical Research Institute
Professor William MacNee is Professor of Respiratory and Environmental Medicine, University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Physician in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He is President of the European Respiratory Society. Professor MacNee was elected President of the European Society for 2006-2007. His research interests involve the study of aspects of the inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and particularly the cell and molecular mechanisms of the balance between oxidants and antioxidants in the lungs. He has developed an interest in the processes by which the lungs deal with inhaled toxic substances especially air pollutants.
He has published over 230 original scientific papers, chapters and reviews and is editor or co-editor of several books. He has lectured on the topics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and air pollution throughout the world.
Fernando Martinez
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Paula M Meek RN Phd FAAN
Senior Associate Dean for Research, University of NM CON
Dr. Meek was a member of the ATS/ERS interdisciplinary team that developed the COPD statement and patient education materials. Her current investigation examines the role symptoms and cognitive function play in self-management of COPD.
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Dr M D L Morgan
Head of Service Dept of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Thoracic Surgery University Hospitals of Leicester Glenfield Hospital
Mike Morgan is a consultant respiratory physician and head of service at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Allergy and Thoracic Surgery at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust at Glenfield Hospital. He has previously worked at Birmingham Heartlands and the Brompton Hospitals. His career interests have included the assessment and management of respiratory disability particularly in COPD.
He has published widely and was an author of the BTS and ERS/ATS statements on pulmonary rehabilitation. He is also a Council member and Vice president of the British Lung Foundation, the editor of Chronic Respiratory Disease and has recently retired as chairman of the Asthma UK research committee. He has just been elected as the UK delegate to the ERS
Martyn Partridge 
Professor of Respiratory Medicine in Imperial College London, NHLI Division based at the Charing Cross Hospital, and Honorary Consultant Physician to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He is Lead Director of the North West London Comprehensive Local Research Network.
Prof. Partridge is Immediate Past President of the British Thoracic Society. For two decades he was (Honorary) Chief Medical Advisor to Asthma UK (previously known as the National Asthma Campaign) and was involved in the production and dissemination of the British Asthma Guidelines from 1990 to 2008.He currently chairs the UK Department of Health Asthma Steering Group. His academic interests are in evaluating the delivery of respiratory health care.
He is an elected member of the Council of the Royal College of Physicians, Final Year Undergraduate Coordinator for the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London and on the Clinical Steering Committee of London Ambulance Service .
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David Price
GPIAG Professor of Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, University of Aberdeen
David Price is extensively involved in primary care respiratory education and research. He also heads a research consortium of clinical care centers in the east of England.
His special areas of interest in primary care respiratory management are screening, “real-life” effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of interventions, compliance, and patient attitudes to their disease.
He heads the research committees for the International Primary Care Respiratory Group. He does sessional work as a general practitioner and assists with the Norfolk wide respiratory GPwSI service.
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Samantha Prigmore RGN, MSc, BSc (Hons)
Respiratory Nurse Consultant St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust
Sam qualified in Oxford in 1987 and pursued her career in cardiothoracic nursing, through undertaking the ENB 249 at the Brompton Hospital, before moving to St George’s Healthcare Trust in 1990, where she worked on a cardiothoracic surgical ward and then as ward sister on a respiratory medical ward in 1991. She was involved in the creation of one the first respiratory nurse specialist posts, taking up the position in 1993 and appointed to nurse consultant in 2003.
She has worked closely with local primary care trusts merging traditional primary and secondary care boundaries, to provide seamless care for respiratory patients from diagnosis through to end stage disease. She is also a lecturer at Imperial College/ Royal Brompton Hospital for the MSc Cardio-Respiratory Nursing and Cardio-Respiratory Critical Care Courses, leading the respiratory module.
She has a special interest in self management in respiratory conditions and palliative care.
She is Chair for the Association of Respiratory Nurses, represents nursing on the External Reference Group for the COPD NSF, Trustee for the British Lung Foundation and has been a committee member of the British Thoracic Society Professional Standards and Tobacco Committees.
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Professor Stephen Rennard
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Stephen Rennard is Larson Professor of Medicine in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Section of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Reasearch includes clinical investigation in COPD and mechanistic study of lung tissue repair and remodeling.
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Dame Helena Shovelton
Chief Executive, British Lung Foundation
Helena Shovelton is currently Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation. The only UK charity working to help people with all 43 lung diseases.
In this role she sits on the following groups; UK Lung Cancer Coalition, the Department of Health’s Lung Cancer & Mesothelioma Action Group, the Department of Health’s Physiological Measurement National Oversight Group. She is also a member of the External Reference Group for the COPD NSF and on a new working group attached to the End of Life Strategy Group. Helena also chairs the steering group for the Tobacco Control Coalition. She is also a non-executive Director of the Energy Saving Trust.
Previously Helena was Chair of the Audit Commission having been a Commissioner since 1995. She has also been a member of the Competition Commission for 7 years and a trustee for the RAF Benevolent Fund. Helena spent two years as a member of the Better Regulation Task Force and three years as Commissioner and then Deputy Chairman of the Local Government Commission for England and is a former member of the Banking Code Standards Board. Helena has also been Chair of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux with a further four years as Vice Chair.
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Dr Edwin Silverman
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Wiesia Wedzicha
Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, University College London
Wisia Wedzicha is Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, University College London. She qualified from Oxford University and St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College.
She has a major interest in the causes, mechanisms and impact of COPD exacerbations and has published extensively on this topic.
She also is an expert on home ventilatory support in COPD patients and is currently the Chair of the British Thoracic Society working group on the home oxygen therapy and a member of the Department of Health’s External Stakeholders Advisory Group for the Home Oxygen Service.
She was a member of the Guideline Development Group for the NICE COPD guidelines. She is currently Editor in Chief of the respiratory journal Thorax and on the Editorial Board of AJRCCM.
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Geertjan Wesseling MD PhD
Associate Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands
Geertjan Wesseling (1956) works at Maastricht University where his professional activities include patient care and disease management for patients with obstructive airways diseases and cystic fibrosis and research in these areas. Currently he chairs the asthma and COPD research programme of the Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI) in Maastricht.
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Dr Robert Winter
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Robert Stockley MD DSc FRCP
Professor of Medicine, Medical Director of the Lung Resource Centre, Director of R&D for the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Stockley is currently Professor of Medicine at the University Hospital Birmingham and director of R&D for the Trust. He has a longstanding interest in COPD with particular reference to airway inflammation, proteinases and anti-proteinases, and especially the role of the neutrophils, bacteria and exacerbations and lectures widely on these aspects. He acts as advisor to many Pharmaceutical companies on the design and delivery of Phase 2&3 clinical trials and has been PI for several large multinational COPD trials.
Professor Stockley organises the UK alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency database and established the International registry for the deficiency. He is currently co-ordinating multi-centre trials of augmentation therapy and alveolar regeneration in these patients. Since 1981 he has run a specialist clinic for patients with Bronchiectasis with a special interest in bacterial colonisation and bacterial load related to inflammation. He has published more than 400 peer reviewed papers and reviews and chapters, edited 7 books, supervised 35 higher degree theses in clinical and basic science and been a member of the editorial board of more than 15 journals.
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Professor Sue Hill OBE
Chief Scientific Officer
Professor Sue Hill has worked for 20 years in respiratory medicine. She was appointed as Chief Scientific Officer in October 2002.
Sue trained as a Clinical Physiologist and gained a PhD in Respiratory Sciences whilst undertaking a programme of basic science research into the pathogenesis of chronic lung disease at the University of Birmingham.
Sue has worked in Respiratory Medicine in the major teaching Trust in Birmingham (and its predecessor) and in the Department on Medicine at the University of Birmingham for over 20 years and has a wide range of responsibilities. These include Head of the Lung Investigation Unit/Lung Resource Centre and directing and leading basic and clinical research programmes in respiratory physiology and lung infection/immunology in both primary and secondary care.
In 2001 Sue was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Biology and she was recently awarded a personal chair in Respiratory Medicine by the University of Birmingham and with Honorary Membership of the Royal College of Physicians. In 2005 was awarded an OBE.
