Our people

APF is a people-driven organisation, it is vital to us that our community is a safe space for all, regardless of background, sexuality, gender, disability, or race. We gain strength from the wide variety of backgrounds that people come with. We value your unique experience and want your voice to be heard.

Professor Nick Wareham

Chair - Research Review Panel

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Professor Nick Wareham is the Director of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Co-Director of the Institute of Metabolic Science, Honorary Consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, England.

He studied Medicine at St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School and Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cambridge University, England.

In 1992-3 he was a Harkness Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health. After research fellowships at the University of Cambridge, he took up the Directorship of the MRC Epidemiology Unit when it was founded in 2003.

He is principal investigator of the EPIC-Norfolk study, the EPIC-InterAct project, the Fenland cohort and the ADDITION trial.

His main research interests are in understanding the aetiology of type 2 diabetes, particularly in generating understanding about the interplay between genetic, developmental and behavioural risk factors. He also researches strategies for the early detection and prevention of diabetes, including individual and societal level interventions.

He is the Director of the UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR) and the NIHR Global Health Group on Diet and Activity Research (GDAR).

Andrew Wilson

Research Review Panel Member

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Andrew retired from his veterinary practice in 2005, and, while embarking on an MA in Pastoral and Theological Studies, started volunteering with refugee and asylum seeker charities.

He became a licensed lay minister in the Church of England, specialising in community ministry. He helped to establish a charity to house destitute asylum seekers as its first chair. Since then he has become an experienced charity trustee and chair.

Elizabeth Bray

Research Review Panel Member

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Elizabeth’s late husband Mike was an IPF patient, who was fortunate to have a single lung transplant. Following his transplant, Elizabeth worked with Mike, the first Chair of Trustees of APF, and other founding trustees to set up the charity.

Over the last few years, the magnificent support from fundraisers across the UK has enabled APF to grow in to a strong and effective charity and Elizabeth looks forward to continuing to support its development.

Dr Richard Allen

Research Review Panel Member

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Richard is an Action for Pulmonary for Fibrosis Mike Bray research fellow at the University of Leicester, researching the genetics of pulmonary fibrosis using large-scale statistical analyses.

He completed a Mathematics and Statistics BSc at the University of York and Medical Statistics MSc at the University of Leicester. He is a work package lead on the DEMISTIFI consortium investigating the genetics of multi-organ fibrosis and in July will take a lecturer position at the University of Leicester and continue his research into the genetics of progressive pulmonary fibrosis.

Suzanne Barrie

Research Review Panel Member

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Suzanne lives in Scotland and currently works in the NHS as an Advanced Practice Vestibular Physiotherapist.

She loves her job and all the challenges it brings and has a strong passion for continued development and improvement of patient care. This is partly what encouraged her to join APF as a member of the Research Review Panel and OneVoicePanel, to help support and try to improve the patients journey.

Suzanne’s dad sadly passed away in November 2023 from IPF and this highlighted to Suzanne the need for more awareness and support for this condition.

Outside of work, Suzanne is married, with 3 young boys. She enjoys keeping busy, spending time with family and friends, travelling and training their new golden retriever puppy. She is actively involved in School and Playgroup committees in her local community and if the puppy training goes well, is hoping for her to become involved as a volunteer Therapet for Charity.

Susan Hall

Research Review Panel Member

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My name is Susan Hall, I am a patient living with a rare form of pulmonary fibrosis called Idiopathic Pleuroparenchymal Fibroelastosis under the care of Royal Papworth Hospital.

I live in Cambridge and am married with four children. I am a fierce advocate of patient support groups most especially for patients like myself living with serious disease and high symptom burden. Having joined my local PF support group a few years after diagnosis, I progressed to Deputy Chair and am now Chair of the Papworth Hospital Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group.

In addition, I am a Registered Nurse and am fortunate enough to have been able to continue in clinical nursing following shielding through the pandemic, working in the Transplant Unit at Cambridge University Hospital.

Jeremy Dearling

Research Review Panel Member

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Jeremy is a Norfolk ex-staff nurse, disabled for over 20 years after surviving septicaemia, multiple organ failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation. He has been involved in Patient and Public Involvement for over 10 years.

Jeremy has experience at all stages of the research cycle for applicants, funders and as a team member. He has a passion for sharing his knowledge and experience of involvement with researchers, and people new to lay review, and find this very rewarding. He was motivated to get involved with the work of Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis, after a dear friend was diagnosed with the condition. Jeremy looks forward with great enthusiasm to contributing to the work APF does to support PF research.

Professor Ling-Pei Ho

Research Review Panel Member

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Prof Ling-Pei Ho is the Professor of Respiratory Immunology at University of Oxford and an NHS Consultant in Respiratory Medicine.

Her research programme focuses on the interface between immune mechanisms of lung injury and dysrepair (fibrosis) and development of new medicines. She set up the Oxford Sarcoidosis Clinical Service, and currently leads the clinical service. She is also Chair of the NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration network, current member of a NHSE Policy Working Group on refractory Sarcoidosis, advisory panel for ASPIRE (a NIHR UK Consortium for Acute Respiratory Infection Diagnosis and Management) and BIOREME (UK wide Biophysical Models in Respiratory Medicine). She has an H index of 42 and published more than 90 original papers.

Melanie Felton

Research Review Panel Member

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Melanie was diagnosed with IPF in 2013, later changed to ILD (LIP/NSIP Secondary Sjogrens). She is a member of local patient support groups including British Sjorgrens, Royal Osteoporosis and APF.

For several years Melanie has enjoyed sitting on a Respiratory Lay Advisory Group, reviewing research projects for funding approval from a patient perspective.

She retired in October 2023 after spending 20 years running a medical legal practice for a plastic surgeon, reviewing medical papers for research and articles for surgical text books.

Prior to this, Melanie worked as a general science lecturer at a College of Further Education in Lancashire, teaching microbiology and food science to all students and all levels of food hygiene to the general public and students on behalf of the local Environmental Health Department to both students and general public involved in food. Her work also included working in local prisons, giving inmates the opportunity to gain recognised certification to help get a job on release.

Professor Stefan Marciniak

Research Review Panel Member

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Stefan Marciniak is Professor of Respiratory Science in the University of Cambridge.

I studied medicine at the University of Cambridge as a member of the Cambridge MB/PhD programme. After junior medical posts in London,Cambridge, and Edinburgh, I moved to New York as a cell biology post-doc at NYU for three years. On returning to the UK in 2005, I completed my training in respiratory medicine and in 2008 became an honorary respiratory consultant in Cambridge, while establishing a research group in the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) to study lung diseases caused by protein misfolding. This is when I established the Cambridge Pneumothorax Clinic to improve care and facilitate research of disorders associated with pneumothorax.

Other roles:

National lead for familial pneumothorax for the 100,000 Genomes Project
Lead for the NHS Rare Disease Collaborative Network (RDCN) in familial pneumothorax
Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Professor Ann Millar

Research Review Panel Member

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Emeritus Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Bristol. Previously President of the British Thoracic Society and the British Association for Lung Research.

Special interests in mechanisms of lung injury and repair related to clinical practice and expertise in interstitial lung disease.

Qualified in Liverpool and trained in General and Respiratory medicine in Liverpool and London.

Professor Chris Scotton

Research Review Panel Member

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Chris currently leads the Respiratory Medicine research group in the College of Medicine & Health at the University of Exeter.

Chris studied Natural Sciences in Cambridge before embarking on a PhD at Cancer Research UK, followed by a Marie Curie fellowship in Milan - all focusing on tumour immunology.

On returning to the UK in 2004, Chris took a segue into lung research working with Professor Rachel Chambers and the late Professor Geoff Laurent at UCL Respiratory, investigating interstitial lung diseases, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in particular.

Like many people, Chris had never before heard of IPF, but rapidly came to realise the true value of working to understand this incurable disease. His research at UCL focused on innate immunity, coagulation and cellular/molecular biology; this was supported by career development fellowships from first the British Lung Foundation and subsequently the MRC.

Chris moved from his role as a Principal Research Fellow at UCL to take up a Senior Lectureship in Exeter in 2014. Chris is an Associate Professor in Respiratory Biomedicine.

In his spare time, Chris was also the Chairperson of the British Association for Lung Research from 2017 - 2021, has sat on the science & research committees of the British Lung Foundation and the British Thoracic Society, and is an Associate Editor of Thorax.

Albert (Al) Hinde

Research Review Panel Member

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Al was diagnosed with IPF in October 2020 at his local hospital. He is a member of the Tameside Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group and until recently acted as the group's Research Champion.

Al initially started his career as a research engineer in Aero Fuel and Hydraulic Systems. He later changed career pathways and moved into management and supervisory training in production engineering environments. Later Al progressed into health and safety, and spent the remaining 30 years of his career in various safety management and training roles. Throughout Al's career he developed many safety campaigns and training programmes designed to change attitudes of those at risk from the hazards they encounter. He is the co-author of “The Health and Safety Handbook for Voluntary and Community Organisations”

Al firmly believes that the most successful route to finding solutions to better treatment for pulmonary fibrosis and ultimately a cure, will be when “the people endeavouring to solve the problem, work with those who are affected by the disease”.

Al's main hobby is gardening, which he still manages to enjoy with help from loved ones.

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