Hitasha's leadership story

Dr Hitasha Rupani is a Consultant Respiratory Physician at University Hospital Southampton.

I wanted to set up a Women in Respiratory group within the British Thoracic Society because I believed it would play a crucial role in promoting equity, visibility and networking for women across the full respiratory multidisciplinary team. As a female respiratory clinician, I have experienced challenges but have also benefitted from invaluable mentorship and encouragement, and these experiences made me appreciate how powerful dedicated support networks can be.

I saw a clear need for a group that could provide a platform for mentorship, networking, skills development and advocacy, helping women build confidence, develop leadership capacity, and navigate the structural barriers that still exist. I also wanted to create a space where women from diverse backgrounds could openly share experiences, identify collective solutions and drive best practice. By fostering collaboration across clinical, academic and allied health disciplines, such a group would strengthen the respiratory community, support more inclusive decision-making and contribute to a more diverse, innovative and representative workforce. Ultimately, my motivation came from a belief that empowering women in respiratory medicine will enhance patient care, enrich research perspectives and drive cultural change across the NHS and wider respiratory field.

I am hugely grateful to the BTS for recognising the importance of this initiative and for supporting the development of the group. Their encouragement has made this work possible, and I look forward to seeing how the group grows and evolves.

Listen to Episode 5 of our Respiratory Futures podcast where Dr Hitasha Rupani speaks with Dr Charlie Addy about her role working in asthma, some of the challenges currently facing patients with asthma and where she hopes the future of respiratory medicine will head in regards to asthma care, including the use of biologics.

Listen to the podcast here.