Nick is a professor of respiratory medicine at Imperial College and he is based at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, where he runs a specialist service for people with COPD (chronic bronchitis and emphysema). Nick, who has published more than 250 research papers and qualified in medicine at Cambridge and the London Hospital Medical College, has specialist interests in lung volume reduction for emphysema, pulmonary rehabilitation and tobacco control.

Nick has been interviewed for national media including BBC, The Times and Telegraph and has published research in the BMJ and The Lancet. He is able to provide specialist insight into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, smoking and the impact air pollution has on the lungs.

Follow Nick on Twitter: @COPDdoc

Samantha leads the Research and Innovation team at Asthma + Lung UK overseeing the research projects we invest in, ensuring the needs of people with lung conditions are at the heart of all research and bringing together funders to invest in lung research. Samantha is available for interviews on a wide range of topics including respiratory research, air pollution, allergies, COPD and asthma care and management. She has previously appeared in media including Radio 4’s Today Programme, BBC Breakfast, ITV News and Sky News.

Samantha holds a PhD (Imperial College, London 2000) in the mechanisms of allergy and asthma and has worked in the field for over 25 years. Her work on allergies and asthma has been published in a range of research journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal and Lancet Respiratory Medicine. Before working at Asthma + Lung UK, Samantha held a range of roles including designing and delivering clinical research projects and programmes, designing respiratory educational programmes through the Open University, diagnosing and treating patients in allergy, asthma and severe asthma clinics in primary and secondary care, influencing health policy and teaching and lecturing healthcare professionals.

Follow Samantha on Twitter at: @samtwick

Alison leads our policy and media teams who use evidence, patient insight and data to develop and showcase policy recommendations that influence the UK government and NHS to push lung health to the top of their agenda. Alison is a scientist by background and then moved into broadcast journalism and worked as programme editor for the BBC in news and current affairs for over 12 years, before starting a career in strategic communications as a policy communications advisor to Ministers, in  the Department of Health and Number 10, and then working at Alzheimer’s Society and Cancer Research UK. She is an experienced media spokesperson and can speak about all aspects of preventing, diagnosing and treating lung disease. She has previously appeared on BBC news programmes, ITV and Sky News. Alison also chairs the Taskforce for Lung Health, a coalition of over 40 organisations and patient representatives who have set an ambitious 5 year vision for improving lung health.

Harriet leads the policy and external affairs team at Asthma + Lung UK, working across respiratory health issues from health inequalities, to access to drugs and quality of NHS care. Harriet has worked in policy and public health for over 10 years and is a specialist in clean air and health policy. Prior to working for Asthma + Lung UK Harriet worked at Unicef UK focusing on clean air and climate change, and the Samaritans driving forward their policy influencing strategy on suicide prevention.  Harriet is able to provide expert commentary on air pollution policy, smoking, gaps in respiratory care and has been interviewed by inews, Guardian and the Telegraph amongst others.

Follow Harriet on Twitter at: @hats_edwards

Joseph has worked in public affairs in the health sector for the last 15 years. He leads on external affairs in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, working with governments, parliamentarians and health bodies to prioritise lung health and tackle air pollution. Joseph is able to provide expert commentary on any stories in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and has been interviewed by BBC, ITV Wales, STV, UTV and a variety of national newspapers. In addition to his role at Asthma + Lung UK, Joseph chairs Healthy Air Cymru and Healthy Air Northern Ireland and represents the organisation in a variety of coalitions in the devolved nations.

Follow Joseph on Twitter at: @Joseph_AUKBLF

Jessica and Emma oversee Asthma + Lung UK’s health advice website, its Long Covid support and severe asthma assessment tools and leaflets, ensuring people with lung conditions have easy access to evidence-based, clinically sound self-management advice wherever and whenever they need it. Before moving to Asthma + Lung UK Jessica was at Cancer Research UK and Emma was Head of Content at the UK’s information and advice service for young people, The Mix.  

Emma and Jessica regularly offer lung health advice comment in the press and have appeared on TV and radio across a range of national and regional media outlets. They can provide insight on a wealth of topics including condition self-management, long covid, asthma in children and correct inhaler use. They are also happy to discuss the main barriers and challenges faced by people with asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis, interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) and other lung conditions.

Erika Kennington heads up the research team at Asthma + Lung UK and is responsible for our portfolio of funded research. Erika holds a PhD from Kings College London and has worked as a research funder in the charity and not-for-profit sector for 12 years. Prior to joining Asthma + Lung UK, she worked as a published researcher in both industry and academia across a number of biomedical and health disciplines.  She regularly comments on respiratory research in national and regional media in relation to all aspects of lung health.

Krisnah leads on our engagement with major public and private funders of research and innovation, bringing together funders to bolster research into lung conditions and ensuring their priorities reflect the needs of people with lung conditions. Krisnah, who holds a Masters degree in Human Rights Law, has worked in the charity sector for over 10 years for a range of organisations including Oxfam and Crisis.

Krisnah is available for interviews on a range of topics including respiratory research and innovation, the application of technologies to transform outcomes and how addressing respiratory disease can benefit the health and wealth of the UK. He has previously appeared on ITV News, BBC News, BBC Radio and given interviews for features in national media.

Follow Krisnah on Twitter at @Kr15nah