Research Interests

My research has centred around the measurement of lung function and its application in diagnosis and patient management.

1. Methods of calibrating and testing flow meters used to measure lung performance. This has led to the ISO standard for PEF meters in 2007 (prEN 13826 and ISO 23747) and to the technical standard for spirometry accepted by ISO in 2009 (ISO 26782).

2. Derivation of a new method for expressing degree of FEV1 lung function abnormality [12] that has now been shown to be the best predictor of survival in patients with COPD. I have used the lung function database I set up at the Queen Elisabeth Hospital Birmingham to relate lung function to survival. This has led to better definition of what is a clinically important degree of bronchial responsiveness [16].

3. I am working with Universities of Aarhus and Odense in Denmark studying 14,000 twins to look at the determinants of lung ageing (genetic versus exposure).

4. I am now working with the University of Birmingham Dept. of Public Health and Epidemiology on the Guanzhou COPD study in China and on the Birmingham Lung Improvement Study (BLISS) concerned with COPD.

5. I have worked on the production of a garment to wear on the chest that will record ventilatory function in ambulatory subjects.