My main clinical research interests are cystic fibrosis (CF) and bronchiectasis (BE). I work with a range of colleagues that includes, clinicians, allied health professionals, a clinical research team and basic scientists to create a translational research program. My focus is to optimise clinical response to established and new therapies.  I lead an active CF/BE investigator-initiated and pharmaceutical-sponsored clinical trial program in Belfast. I link closely with the Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network (NICRN)-Respiratory Health and the Wellcome-Wolfson Clinical Research Facility (CRF). I am a Principal Investigator (PI) and Chief Investigator (CI) on a number of pivotal clinical trials which is supported by national and international collaborative research networks.

My research projects currently involve,

• Multi-modal analysis of pulmonary exacerbations in CF, exploring the potential for clinical and inflammatory biomarkers to predict response to treatment
• The investigation and clinical application of novel biomarkers in CF
• The bacterial impact of non-antimicrobial therapies in CF and repurposing drugs
• The impact of co-morbidities in CF by deep patient phenotyping and utilising pre-clinical models to assess the mechanisms involved
• Exploration of Patient Reported Outcome Measures for clinical trials
• Interplay of bacteria and fungi in CF/BE
• Drug development in BE
• Outcome measures in BE

Research Leadership

I am the recent ex-Director of the European CF Society – Clinical Trial Network (CTN) (www.ecfs.eu/ctn) (2021-2023) which consists of 68 CF research centres in 20 European countries. I am a founding member of the European CF Investigator Trial Committee. I also lead large European investigator led clinical trials. Belfast is recognised as one of the leading CF clinical trial centres in Europe.

Our clinical research centre is also a member of the UK CF Trust Clinical Trials Accelerator Platform (CTAP) and I recently served as a member of the Research Scientific Oversight Board for the CF Trust.

I am a current member of the European CF Society Scientific Committee and a member of the UK CF Medical Association.

Clinical

I am a consultant respiratory physician specialising in CF and BE. 

I qualified in medicine from QUB and my early clinical training and airways inflammation research took place in Belfast.  I subsequently trained in respiratory medicine in Manchester and Brisbane. In 2006 I was appointed as a consultant in CF and Respiratory medicine in Bristol and a honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Bristol. In 2008 I became the Centre Director of the Bristol Adult CF centre and Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Regional (Severn) Network. I returned to Belfast in 2011.

I also lead a multidisciplinary bronchiectasis team and work with colleagues in the clinical immunology centre to provide a regional service for patients with structural lung disease, complex infections and immunodeficiency.