SARCOIDOSISUK MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY PANEL
The SarcoidosisUK Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel helps to maintain and improve our clinical services and research programme, including reviewing research applications. You can meet the members of the Panel below.
The SarcoidosisUK Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel is responsible for making sure that the charity maintains a high and consistent standard across all of our clinical services and outputs. The Panel helps to set strategic clinical direction, guide research strategy, and advise on many other areas such as NHS pathways, patient information and raising awareness of sarcoidosis amongst healthcare professionals.
Each member of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel has significant clinical and / or research experience of sarcoidosis. They are at the forefront of sarcoidosis care in the UK, if not the world. We are extremely grateful to them for giving their time to help SarcoidosisUK develop our services and reach our goal to find a cure. You can meet the SarcoidosisUK Medical and Scientific Advisory Panel below.
Professor Simon Hart
Respiratory Consultant Lecturer and Researcher University of Hull
Chair of Panel
Professor Hart is the lead clinician for the Hull Interstitial Lung Disease and Sarcoidosis services. His research interests include the biology of pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung diseases, as well as sarcoidosis. He was the lead researcher for both the SarcoidosisUK Research Project 2015 into monocytes and the SarcoidosisUK Research Project 2018 into mTOR.
Professor Ling-Pei Ho
Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, Oxford University NHS Foundation Hospitals
Vice Chair of Panel
Professor Ling-Pei Ho has led the Oxford Sarcoidosis Service for the past 20 years and is a lead author in the new British Thoracic Society Clinical Statement for sarcoidosis. She heads research in lung immunology and fibrosis at the University of Oxford, and has a specific interest in fibrotic sarcoidosis. She has conducted research funded by SarcoidosisUK in 2013 into the influence of genetics on the progression of sarcoidosis.
Dr Tarunya Arun
Consultant Neurologist, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire
Dr Tarunya Arun is a Consultant Neurologist at the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire where she is the joint Lead for the MS service and the Research Lead for neurology. She was previously Consultant Neurologist at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
She has a special interest in neuroinflammatory disease and chairs the Neuroinflammatory Special Interest Group of the Association of British Neurologists. Her research interests include multiple sclerosis treatments and imaging and neurosarcoidosis.
Professor Surinder Birring
Respiratory Physician, King's College Hospital
Dr Robina Coker
Respiratory Consultant, Hammersmith Hospital
Professor James Galloway
Professor of Rheumatology, Kings College London
Professor James Galloway is a Professor of Rheumatology and a leading researcher in the field of inflammatory autoimmune diseases at Kings College London. His work focuses on leveraging big data and data science approaches to understand disease mechanisms, treatment responses, and healthcare delivery. He leads a dynamic research group comprising NIHR clinical lecturers, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research nurses, and trials coordinators. His research spans disease epidemiology, predictive modelling for health outcomes, and pharmacovigilance.
Dr Nikhil Hirani
Consultant Respiratory Physician and Reader, University of Edinburgh
Dr Nikhil Hirani qualified from Nottingham University and is currently a senior lecturer and PI in the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research in Edinburgh and honorary consultant at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh. He is Clinical Director for Respiratory Medicine in Lothian and leads the Edinburgh Lung Fibrosis service.
He is past chair of the British Thoracic ILD guideline committee, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence working group for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and is a member of several academic and industry advisory boards.
Dr Vasilis Kouranos
Consultant Respiratory Physician, Royal Brompton Hospital
Dr Vasilis Kouranos completed a fellowship in ILD and sarcoidosis and now works alongside Prof Athol Wells in leading the sarcoidosis service at the Royal Brompton Hospital. He specialises in cardiac sarcoidosis, the subject of his PhD thesis. Dr Kouranos is the author of over 14+ sarcoidosis-related publications and developed the RBHT Cardiac Sarcoidosis Registry, the largest in the world.
Dr Claire Rice
Associate Professor in Neuroinflammation and Honorary Consultant Neurologist, Bristol
Dr Claire Rice is an Associate Professor in Neuroinflammation and Honorary Consultant Neurologist working in Clinical Neurosciences at the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol and North Bristol NHS Trust.
Dr Rice runs a specialist clinic in neuroinflammatory disease as well as participating in the general neurology service at Southmead Hospital. She contributes to a number of courses at the University of Bristol and is Deputy School Education Director for Bristol Medical School. She co-leads the Differential Attainment Special Interest Group of the Medical Anti-racism Taskforce, Bristol Medical School.
Dr Rakesh Sharma
Consultant Cardiologist, Royal Brompton Hospital
Dr Rakesh Sharma is the clinical lead for heart failure at the Royal Brompton Hospital. He also has specialist expertise in cardiac sarcoidosis, advanced pacing (including the implantation of biventricular pacemakers and defibrillators) and cardio-oncology.
He has an active research programme in heart failure and complex device therapy. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles (including original papers, reviews, editorials, abstracts and book chapters).
Professor Athol Wells
Consultant Physician, Royal Brompton Hospital
Professor Athol Wells trained at Green Lane Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. He then came to the Royal Brompton Hospital in 1989 for his post-graduate studies where he has remained and is now a consultant physician specialising in diffuse lung disease. He chairs the British Thoracic Society group revising diffuse lung disease guidelines and sits on the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society groups revising idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis guidelines.
He also sits on several other joint groups defining guidelines for conditions such as non-specific interstitial pneumonia, smoking-related diffuse lung disease and acute exacerbations of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Dr Melissa Wickremasinghe
Consultant Respiratory Physician, St Mary's Hospital
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