He trained at UCH, the Brompton Hospital and at the Hammersmith Hospital, where he completed his MD thesis and an MRC Training Fellowship. He has authored numerous publications on respiratory medicine and physiology, winning first prize in the BMA ‘Book of the year’ competition for his book ‘Making sense of Lung Function’, 2004. Formerly medical director of Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, 2002-2008 and currently a Vice President of the British Lung Foundation, he was appointed OBE for services to medicine and healthcare in the New Year honours, 2009.