BTS announces Dr Richard Russell as the new Chair of the BTS Board of Trustees

BTS is pleased to announce Dr Richard Russell as the new Chair of the BTS Board of Trustees.

Dr Russell is a Clinical Reader at Kings College London, the Head of the Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology, and a Respiratory Consultant at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. He is the Clinical Director of the West Hampshire Integrated Respiratory Service, looking after COPD and asthma for 2.5 million people. He was also recently the Respiratory Director for NHS England SE region and Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB.

Dr Russell is interested in obstructive lung disease, particularly the pathophysiology of COPD and how patients should be cared for across the primary/secondary care interface.

His PhD at Imperial College was as a British Lung Foundation Research Fellow under the supervision of Professor Peter Barnes. The research focussed on the basic mechanisms of COPD and disease progression in a population of smokers in primary care, and this is a continuing area of study as an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial.

Dr Russell recently joined KCL from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on COPD exacerbations, mechanisms of lung damage, and phenotypes of all airways diseases. He is also the founding editor of the International Journal of COPD (impact Factor 3.6), and he is keen to increase global awareness of COPD and provide a platform for scientific developments from across the world.

Dr Russell has a long association with the Society. He is currently a member of the BTS Council and Standards of Care Committee and is active in Asthma + Lung UK.

Dr Russell commented: “It is an honour and pleasure to have been appointed to the role of BTS Chair. I am looking forward to working with the board, BTS members, and the amazing team at the Society. I believe BTS is in a good place to grasp the post-pandemic opportunities, and my goal is to make BTS an essential part of any respiratory practitioner's professional life.”

Dr Russell will take up his new role at the BTS Annual General Meeting, which will be held during the Winter Meeting on 27 November 2024.