Our research, clinical and charity partners
The UK has leading research and clinical capabilities in rare respiratory diseases but this expertise is often fragmented across different regions, institutions and health conditions. Our Centre tackles this challenge by connecting patients, researchers and clinicians across diseases, age groups and research phases. This joined-up approach will allow progress in one area to inform and improve outcomes in others. It will help us to uncover shared causes, improve early diagnosis, and accelerate the development of treatments that work for all patients of all ages.
Our NHS partners
People with rare respiratory diseases can be found everywhere in the UK, but clinical expertise tends to be concentrated at NHS teaching hospitals in large cities.
Our Centre is linking up the experts at those teaching hospitals so they can share knowledge and best practices about diagnosis and care. We’re connecting NHS experts and university researchers so they can more easily join the dots from laboratory to real life. And we’re supporting the creation of online multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) so doctors around the country can more easily access clinical expertise in rare respiratory diseases. By making it easier for doctors across the UK to access expert advice, and creating new connections between medics and researchers, we can speed up diagnosis and improve real-world outcomes for everyone, wherever they live.
Our patient partners
We are committed to ensuring that patients are at the centre of everything we do. We work in partnership with those living with rare lung conditions, including patients, families and carers. This helps us to ensure that our work reflects and responds to what matters most to them.
We create opportunities for people to share experiences and shape our research. Together, we aim to make a difference that is both meaningful and lasting.
We are delighted to be collaborating with a number of patient-advocacy groups through our Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP). LEAP members work with Centre staff as equal partners. Their insights help the Centre design research that is relevant, ethical, practical and grounded in real experience. We welcome enquiries from potential members.
“Thirty years ago, almost nothing was known about LAM. Today, clinical research has made great strides, and patient collaboration has played a big part in this. At LAM Action, we are excited at the potential for more cooperation and faster progress for our disease and other rare respiratory conditions that can be so distressing and destructive to patients and those who love and care for them.”
Our university partners
Our Centre challenges traditional funding models by promoting collaborative research. Thanks to a formal consortium agreement, rare respiratory researchers and clinician-researchers at six leading UK universities can now work together to break down barriers between scientific fields and identify common themes across diseases.
We welcome enquiries from researchers from all disciplines who would like to collaborate with the Centre to advance translational science for rare respiratory diseases. By working together as a national network of excellence in rare respiratory diseases, we can accelerate the development of effective diagnostics, disease models and therapies that directly benefit patients.
