Portsmouth Team

Director of Research and Innovation at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Professor Chauhan is a Consultant in General and Respiratory Medicine and Director of Research and Innovation at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. He is also a Professor and Chair of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Portsmouth, and an Executive of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Comprehensive Local Research Network. He is the Respiratory Lead for the Wessex Academic Science Network, with a mission to improve quality of respiratory care in the Wessex region.Professor Chauhan is a Consultant in General and Respiratory Medicine and Director of Research and Innovation at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. He is also a Professor and Chair of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Portsmouth, and an Executive of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Comprehensive Local Research Network. He is the Respiratory Lead for the Wessex Academic Science Network, with a mission to improve quality of respiratory care in the Wessex region.

Together with other clinicians with an interest in Allergy in the Southern region, a regional ‘Wessex Allergy Network’ has now been organised in a ‘wheel and spoke’ fashion with difficult adult and paediatric allergy patients referred to central services in Southampton but the majority of allergy services delivered at local sites. This has required the development of local allergy clinics of which Portsmouth is now committed to as a result of Professor Chauhan’s continued service development.

He has co-developed the Wessex Severe Asthma Cohort as part of an MRC Cohorts Initiative and is also Chief Investigator on an Asthma UK biomarker study, this RESPECT Meso study, seeking to learn how best to support patients with mesothelioma and their families. He has recently been awarded a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) supported LASER trial of laminar airflow therapy in severe allergic asthma.

He is Clinical Lead for providing and supervising the Research Fellowship Scheme at Portsmouth Hospitals, which includes administration and management of Clinical Research Fellows for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Comprehensive Local Research Network, aligned to different hospitals within the area and varied medical specialities.

Professor Chauhan believes that the opportunities resulting from reconfiguration of research within the NHS including continued development of NIHR support, the establishment of the AHSN’s, LRN’s (particularly the Hampshire and IoW Division) will provide Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust with a unique opportunity to respond to, and integrate the challenges in the current system for applied health research. Professor Chauhan envisages that within 5 years, PHT should be at the forefront of programmes, funding and structures which the Department of Health and the NHS in England have led. Portsmouth Hospitals need to further develop partnerships with industry to identify drug targets in cancer and chronic diseases, and this aspiration should be aligned with improved clinical service goals of PHT and the National Service Framework agenda.

Dr Tom Brown is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust with a specialist interest in Severe Asthma. His research interests include asthma phenotypes and trials of novel asthma therapies working with the Wessex Severe Asthma Centre. He worked with Professor Chauhan to design and set-up new studies including the LASER Trial and the MISSION Asthma project.

Dr Thomas Jones is a Clinical Research Fellow at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. He is currently working towards a PhD in chronic infection in asthma, COPD and bronchiectasis. He sees patients within the severe asthma clinic at PHT and also has an interest in EGPA (Churg-Strauss Syndrome).

Dr Dan Neville was born and bred in Portsmouth and after qualifying in London was lured back to the South coast to be close to the sea. Being an asthmatic himself, he has always had an interest in novel diagnostic and treatment options in asthma and COPD.

Dr Neville is currently working towards a PhD at the University of Portsmouth in the use of novel diagnostic tools in airway diseases.

Dr Emily Heiden is a Senior Respiratory Registrar in the Wessex Region. She is a Clinical Fellow for the MISSION ABC project and is the Lead for the research and evaluation work that accompanies the project delivery. In addition to MISSION Emily is a key part of the Research and Innovation department in Portsmouth leading on other projects in Respiratory Disease including novel devices and care models.

Ellie Lanning is Quality Improvement Fellow at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and a Specialist Registrar in Respiratory Medicine. She is also a recent Alumnus of the Health Education England-Wessex Quality Improvement Fellowship.

Ellie was the lead Fellow for the successful MISSION COPD pilot and leading on the spread and sustainability of MISSION country-wide.

I am the Senior Respiratory Physiotherapist who works alongside the respiratory team at QAH in the out patient department. With 15 years of experience treating respiratory conditions, I have developed a special interest in the treatment of disordered and difficult breathing syndrome, and vocal cord dysfunction. I am a Buteyko practitioner and also implement the Papworth method of breathing retraining with patients with asthma, alongside with other techniques such as acupuncture. These techniques can help reduce breathlessness and increase quality of life for patients with asthma.

Qualifying at Westminster Hospital, London as a RN in 1991, I have worked in acute medical care, emergency care, primary care (practice nursing, specialising in respiratory care), charity (Asthma UK project nurse, developing national asthma care materials and working collaboratively with healthcare organisations) and industry (AZ Clinical nurse, mentoring, educating HCP’s in primary care across the UK, respiratory patient reviews, developing and delivering collaborative project work across primary and secondary care).  I am qualified in teaching and assessing in clinical practice, practice nursing, accident and emergency nursing and have a BSc in long term conditions (respiratory). My current role since 2014 is developing and delivering innovative projects across Wessex for WAHSN working in collaboration with multiple organisations.

Since qualifying in 2001 I have worked in several respiratory environments. Initially as a respiratory ward nurse then moving on to respiratory high dependency. For here I took on the role of respiratory nurse specialist coordinating the inpatient care of asthma and COPD patients. I also provided the oxygen assessment clinic within the respiratory out patients. Prior to my current role I was the respiratory nurse lead for the medical assessment unit, out reaching into the emergency department, facilitating respiratory post take ward rounds and managing acute admissions along with an educational role. I also have been a trust oxygen champion providing oxygen administration education across the nursing workforce, designing competencies for oxygen and acute Non-invasive ventilation. My current role involves the management of airways patients within GP practices as part of the iBreathe project, along with holding an outpatient nurse led asthma clinic. I’m also part of the respiratory research team and have involvement in several studies.