Academic Lead(s):
Professor George Santis
At Denmark Hill there are supra-regional services provided in cough, sarcoidosis, adult cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis (lung defence). The lung cancer and interstitial lung disease services are embedded within supraregional services provided across King’s Health Partners. Translational studies are a key focus in all these clinical domains.
There are specialised weekly clinics in cough, sarcoidosis, lung cancer and bronchiectasis that will provide clinical training and a source of patients for translational research. There are innovative programmes in circulating biomarkers and unique and novel model systems in which we have developed genetically manipulatable organoids that reproduce in vitro the earliest stages of lung cancer. This facilitates the identification of novel biomarkers.
Trainees will be guaranteed 3 months of research training within every 12 month period. The 3 months will be chosen so that they best fit the needs of the trainee with particular reference to grant and fellowship deadlines. Academic clinical lecturers (ACLs) will be divided 50:50 research and clinical. The precise breakdown will be tailored to the individual. Bench-based translational research would likely require longer periods in which the focus would be on experimental work.
As part of the research training, trainees will be required to develop cough intensity measures that are non-invasive, ambulatory and sound based. They will also assess skeletal muscle structure and function in sarcoidosis and determine whether it is related to fatigue. Novel model systems recapitulating early lung cancer. Screening chemoprevention compounds. Circulating biomarkers to include exosome biomarkers and cfDNA.