Lorcan McGarvey

Lorcan McGarvey MD FRCP graduated with Honours in Medicine and trained in General Internal and Respiratory Medicine. He is a Consultant Respiratory Physician and Clinical Professor in QUB. He is internationally known for his research in cough reflected in his highly cited publication output. He has a sustained track record of leadership in cough guideline development as Co-Chair of the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Cough Taskforce and currently serves on the European Respiratory Society (ERS) Cough Task Force and as an Expert Member on the American College Chest Physicians (ACCP) Cough Guideline Committee. He has undertaken a range of research studies in cough ranging from evaluation of diagnostic protocols relevant to clinical practice to mechanistic studies designed to elucidate the pathogenesis of chronic cough. Currently his work is focused on the expression and functional characteristics of ion channels located in the airways. In collaboration with colleagues in QUB he is exploring the potential of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived sensory neuronal models to study neuro-inflammatory mechanisms associated with acute and chronic cough. Professor McGarvey established and leads the Northern Ireland Specialist Cough Clinic which receives a high volume of referrals from throughout Ireland for management of complex cough syndromes. This specialist clinic has provided the opportunity for patients to participate in a number of pivotal Phase II national and International clinical trials of novel therapies for cough.

Professor McGarvey has also worked extensively in the area of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In collaboration with Wise (Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, USA) and John (Charite Hospital, Berlin, Germany) he developed a new methodological approach to the reliable adjudication of cause-specific mortality in COPD clinical trials. This methodology has now been widely adopted and was utilised in three of the largest global COPD trials to date (TORCH, UPLIFT and TIOSPIR). Currently, he is Co-Principal Investigator on the Border REgions And Training Hub (BREATH) a €7.7M funded EU INTERREG 5-year program (2017-2022) and provides clinical leadership across the 3 participating Institutions (QUB, Dundalk Institute of Technology, & University of West of Scotland). Professor McGarvey’s work has been funded from peer-reviewed national and International funding bodies including European Union, Medical Research Council and Higher Education Authority. He is Joint Clinical Lead for the Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network for Respiratory Health.

Professor McGarvey is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was elected in 2011 to the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland.