With direct exposure to the environment, human lungs are susceptible to injury, infection and inflammation. This seminar will provide insight into the role of the immune system in lung health and talk about new approaches to intervene and reduce the clinical impact of patients in critical care with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) – a life-threatening condition where the lungs cannot provide the body’s vital organs with enough oxygen and may require mechanical ventilation in intensive care.

Professor Edwin Chilvers is Professor of Medicine at Imperial College London and Head of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial. He is an Honorary Respiratory Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. His talk will focus on the extreme vulnerability of the lungs to external insult and injury and how the immune system responds to this.

Dr Brij Patel is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Division of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care at Imperial College London and a consultant in intensive care medicine at The Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust. His talk will highlight the biological and physiological response within the lungs during ARDS and place this into the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic.