Research profile: Dr Christopher Brightling

Dr Christopher Brightling is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Leicester and Glenfields Hospital.Dr Christopher Brightling is an honorary senior lecturer at the University of Leicester and Glenfields Hospital.

Asthma UK is supporting his current research into airway inflammation and repair.

Why is asthma so interesting as a research issue?

The number of people in this country, particularly children, with asthma is increasing such that nearly all of us now have personal experience of how asthma can affect someone’s life.

Asthma provides the researcher with a number of challenges. We need to understand more clearly the causes of asthma, the changes that occur in the airway wall and how these relate to the abnormalities in airway function and the symptoms of asthma.

Trying to unravel the complexities of this disease with the potential rewards of improving the treatment of patients makes asthma a fascinating condition to research.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

In my clinic I derive great pleasure from helping people with asthma control their disease. However, I see some people whose asthma is inadequately controlled in spite of treatment and others with very severe disease whose asthma may be controlled but they are at risk of developing side effects from treatments such as oral steroids.

Complementing clinical practice with research allows me to explore some of the underlying changes in the airways of people with asthma in detail, which will improve our understanding of asthma and I hope lead on to new therapies for this disease.

How does Asthma UK help your research?

Through its many fundraising efforts Asthma UK is able to support several research projects and I am grateful to Asthma UK to have been a recipient of research funding.In a recent study funded by Asthma UK I found that in asthma, inflammatory cells called mast cells are localised within the muscle bundles in the airway wall. I am now, with further support from Asthma UK, trying to understand how interactions between these cells may contribute to both the acute and severe symptoms of asthma.

What do you hope to achieve as a result of your research?

From a scientific point of view I would like to think that my research helps us to understand asthma better, as a clinician I hope my research in time makes a difference to the people with asthma.


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