Prof Jacky Smith MB, ChB, FRCP, PhD

Overview

Jacky Smith is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Consultant at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. She runs a multi-disciplinary research team whose focus is on understanding mechanisms underlying pathological cough and a regional clinical service seeing patients with refractory chronic cough. She is also the Director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility and Leads the Rapid Translational Incubator Theme of the NIHR Manchester Bioemdical Research Centre.

Biography

Jacky Smith graduated in Medicine from Manchester University in 1992 and continued her training around the North West region in General and Respiratory Medicine. She undertook research in her final year of training, studying for a PhD in the 'Measurement of Cough', awarded in 2004. This involved close collaboration with computer scientists and fuelled an interest in acoustics and signal processing. After completing specialist training she returned to research and was funded by a Stepping Stones Award from Manchester University and an MRC Clinician Scientists Fellowship Award until 2012.

In collaboration with Mr Kevin McGuinness (Clinical engineer) she has developed a novel method for semi-automated cough detection, that has been licensed to a medical device company (Vitalograph Ltd) with whom she collaborates. The subsequent commercialisation of this cough monitoring system has changed the standards by which novel cough therapies are evaluated in regulatory clinical trials. Moreover, the use of this system to quantify coughing in a study of patients attending her chronic cough clinic, facilitated the discovery of a new class of efficacious anti-tussive therapy, P2X3 antagonists .

In addition to continuing work developing new endpoints in cough monitoring, her main research interests lie in understanding the mechanisms underlying cough in respiratory diseases and the testing of novel anti-tussive therapies. Her research is funded by a Wellcome Investigator in Science Award and through the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre Respiratory Theme. She also collaborates widely with the pharmaceutical industry.

Information about the cough clinic and clinical research can be found at www.combatmycough.com

Qualifications

MB ChB Manchester 1992

MRCP London 1996

PhD Manchester 2004

Memberships of committees and professional bodies

• Member of the Royal College Physicians (London)
• Member of British Thoracic Society
• Member European Respiratory Society
• Member of American Thoracic Soceity
• Member of the European Task Force for the Assessment of Cough
• ACCP guideline committee for the Management and Diagnosis of Chronic Cough
• Member of the International Society for the Study of Cough