Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’ve been a champion for respiratory care for decades, working across clinical practice, education, research and policy. I’ve seen our healthcare system from multiple perspectives: as a clinician on the frontline, a senior NHS manager, and now as Deputy Chair of an Integrated Care Board. This vantage point has given me a deep understanding of both the pressures we face and the opportunities we often miss.
The UK is home to some of the best respiratory minds in the world. My role is to help ensure that expertise doesn’t stay in journals or conferences but translates into real improvements for patients and communities.
What is CARRii, and why was it created?
Centre for Applied Respiratory Research and Innovation (CARRii) was created to unite the UK’s applied respiratory community and to ensure that its research doesn’t gather dust. Our goal is to develop preventative measures to tackle the challenges in respiratory care; winter pressures and health inequalities expose the cracks in our system year after year.
Building on the foundations of the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, CARRii brings together researchers, clinicians, policymakers, industry partners and people with lived experience. It is hosted by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford and operates across the UK.
It has been just over a year since CARRii began. How has this first year gone?
Founded in February 2025, the first year has been energising and busy. We’ve built a strong multidisciplinary network supported by data science, methodology and patient involvement.
Within our first year, we engaged with Parliament twice, bringing applied respiratory research directly into national policy conversations. For a new centre, the pace has been encouraging. We’ve shown what small, focused teams can achieve.
What are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the culture of collaboration that has emerged so quickly in what is a complex and often fragmented field. There is a genuine sense of shared purpose across our network, with everyone working together to move beyond publications and toward measurable impact.
For example, our recent House of Commons engagement (in association with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Respiratory Health) was linked to our nasal saline and winter pressures campaign ‘A Simple Shift to Impact Winter Pressures’. The discussion of solid clinical evidence in policy and a genuine interest in putting it into practice truly captures the purpose of CARRii.
I’m also proud that CARRii is already seen as an independent, evidence-driven and credible voice. In just over a year, we’ve begun to demonstrate that applied respiratory research can influence national conversations.
What does the next 12 months look like for CARRii?
Within our network, we have identified opportunities to reduce admissions and ease system pressure. These include expanding vaccination uptake, improving air quality, earlier risk identification, enhancing community-based prevention, and earlier diagnosis.
We will continue our ‘A Simple Shift to Impact Winter Pressures’ campaign to embed proven interventions into preparedness planning. We will also continue to support new grant applications and expand our webinars and events. We will be focusing on implementation, turning the data we have into decisions that improve care, reduce inequalities and strengthen resilience.
Is there anything coming up that you are particularly excited about?
I’m particularly excited about the growing recognition that prevention really matters. There is a shift in national thinking reflected in the NHS’s wider reform agenda towards acting earlier and reducing avoidable harm.
I’m also excited about the new partnerships forming across policy, digital health and patient communities. With strong momentum and shared purpose, the next phase for CARRii will focus on delivering impact.