Respiratory and Allergy
The Respiratory and Allergy Clinical Academic Group, launched in April 2022, aims to improve lung health for all by bringing together clinical and academic experts across respiratory and allergy specialities, focusing on education and training, research-led discovery and innovation and clinical services. The leadership was refreshed in July 2023 when Prof Michael Loebinger was appointed.
The four Respiratory and Allergy CAG Leads – biographies included below – have been working together with colleagues and patients across partners to realise the exciting opportunities this expanded partnership affords. The CAG leaders are driving the goals of the partnership’s clinical, academic and education excellence strategy. This includes building a world-class clinical respiratory service, cross-site integration and leading clinical academic priorities.
The Respiratory and Allergy CAG are committed to:
- providing world-class respiratory clinical excellence – by translating cutting-edge research to clinical practice
- becoming a beacon of academic excellence across lung health – by building capacity and capability for colleagues to become leaders in their academic field; develop and interdisciplinary approach to grants; and supporting translational research and improvements to clinical outcomes
- delivering educational excellence to improve national lung health – by developing the next generation of world-leading respiratory clinicians, educators and researchers
Our leadership
Prof Mona Bafadhel, MBChB, FRCP, PhD
Professor Mona Bafadhel, is the Director of the King’s Centre for Lung Health; Chair of Respiratory Medicine at King’s College London; and Consultant Respiratory Physician at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Prof Bafadhel completed medical training at the University of Birmingham, followed by training at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, The Royal Brompton Hospital and specialist registrar training in hospitals within the Oxford Deanery, including the Churchill Hospital. Prof Bafadhel completed her PhD in biomarkers of exacerbations of COPD at the University of Leicester.
Prof Bafadhel leads the King's Centre for Lung Health, which focuses on innovative ways to promote lung health throughout the lifetime through preventing, diagnosing and treating lung disease. The centre was successful in obtaining funding through the KHP Centre for Translational Medicine Pilot Fund, which includes a 1-year internal funding scheme to enable the gathering of pilot data to support the submission of larger, external funding applications. By driving excellence in discovery and applied science, and working with scientists, healthcare professionals, patients, and communities the centre aims to help solve the most pressing lung health problems.
Prof Bafadhel is an international academic leader in respiratory medicine, with a passion for translating science to clinical practice to improve outcomes for patients, with a research interest in COPD and asthma. Her work in COPD and COVID-19 has translated to changing clinical practice affecting millions across the world. She was awarded an NIHR postdoctoral fellowship between 2014-2018, which she held at the University of Oxford, and awarded the Goulstonian Lectureship from the Royal College of Physicians for excellence in the Clinical Sciences in 2018. She is the 4th woman and the 1st woman from an ethnic minority background in the Royal College of Physician’s near 400-year history to have achieve this accolade.
Prof Bafadhel says:
The respiratory research components of the CAG are coming together. We’ve seen funding success for the King’s Centre for Lung Health from the Centre for Translational Medicine for group and individual funding and look forward to working with the NIHR Cardiorespiratory HealthTech.
Prof Nicholas Hart BSc FRCP PhD FFICM FERS
Professor Nick Hart is the Director of Research Delivery at Guy’s & St Thomas Hospitals; Deputy Medical Director, Heart, Lung & Critical Care clinical group; Professor of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, King's College London; and Joint Editor-in-Chief, Thorax. Prof Hart completed both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at University of London before completing his PhD at University of London and Royal Brompton Hospital.
From 2012 to 2020, Prof Hart was Head of the Lane Fox Respiratory Service, which is an internationally recognised clinical-academic weaning, rehabilitation and home mechanical ventilation service. Lane Fox currently houses the largest weaning and rehabilitation unit in the UK and supports over 2,700 patients with chronic respiratory failure. Prof Hart additionally established the Lane Fox Clinical Respiratory Physiology Research Centre in 2007 with his own research group focused on reducing hospital admission in COPD, muscle wasting prevention during critical illness and enhancing outcome in chronic respiratory failure and sleep disordered breathing.
Prof Hart won at the Local Clinical Excellence Awards in 2016, Best Acute Hospital Development Lane Fox REMEO Centre at the Building Better Healthcare Awards in 2015, Highly Commended (personal commendation) National Well-Child Award in 2014, and is now the Theme Lead within the NIHR Cardio-respiratory HealthTech Research Centre (HRC).
Prof Hart says:
This is the next step to deliver a world class clinical-academic respiratory and allergy service across the partnership.
Professor Michael Loebinger MA BM BCh FRCP PhD
Professor Loebinger is the Director of the Lung Division at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals; Deputy Medical Director of the Heart, Lung & Critical Care clinical group; Professor of Practice (Respiratory Medicine) at Imperial College; and Respiratory Consultant at Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals. Prof Loebinger studied at Cambridge University where he obtained a first-class degree in Medical Sciences before completing his clinical training at Oxford University. He then trained in respiratory medicine in London, including at St. Thomas’s, Hammersmith, Charing Cross, St. Mary’s, and Royal Brompton Hospitals.
Prof Loebinger has particular expertise and research interests in respiratory infections and bronchiectasis. He was awarded a Medical Research Council Clinical Research Training Fellowship in 2006 for research into the use of adult stem cells in lung disease which he performed at UCL and led to a PhD. He has won research awards from the Royal Society of Medicine, the European Respiratory Society, the British Thoracic Society, the British Association of Lung Research, the American Thoracic Society, the Medical Research Society and the British Lung Foundation, and he continues to lead research, global clinical trials and international guidelines in bronchiectasis, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, primary ciliary dyskinesia and respiratory infections
Prof Michael Loebinger says:
I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with an excellent team to help drive forward the clinical, research and education strategy of the partnership.
Dr Irem Patel PhD FRCP
Dr Irem Patel is an integrated Consultant Respiratory Physician at King’s College Hospital, Joint Director of Clinical Strategy at King’s Health Partners and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Human and Applied Physiological Sciences, King’s College London. She is Lead for Tobacco Prevention and Joint Clinical Director at NHSE/I for the London region Respiratory Clinical Network and Lead for Tobacco Dependence and chair of the SE London Integrated Care System respiratory network. Dr Patel is also COPD lead for the National Respiratory Audit Program and co-Head of the Respiratory Department and Clinical Lead for COPD and Treating Tobacco Dependence King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Patel trained at University College London and her specialist and research interests include COPD, respiratory infection, respiratory failure, and the development and delivery of pathways of care for patients with chronic respiratory disease. She leads a multidisciplinary specialist team spanning primary, secondary, and community care to support patients with complex breathlessness both in hospital and at home. She works closely with local care networks to inform local respiratory strategy, and is actively involved in teaching and training both within King’s Health Partners and in supporting respiratory skills and competencies amongst colleagues in primary care.
Dr Patel says:
Thank you for this amazing opportunity; I look forward to working with colleagues and the public across our KHP partnerships to champion and deliver the best respiratory outcomes, teaching and research for all.