Obituary - Joseph Footit

Dr Joseph Footitt, Walport Clinical Lecturer in the Airway Disease Infection Section, (NHLI), died in an accident on 13 June 2012, aged 37.

Dr Joseph Footitt, Walport Clinical Lecturer in the Airway Disease Infection Section, (NHLI), died in an accident on 13 June 2012, aged 37.

Joseph trained at Guy’s and St Thomas’ medical school in London and joined Imperial in 2007 and started a period of research, registering for a PhD under the supervision of Professor Sebastian Johnston, Professor Ian Adcock and Dr Patrick Mallia (all NHLI). He undertook a clinical study on inflammation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) aiming to make discoveries about the mechanisms that cause acute attacks of the disease which could lead to new approaches to prevention and treatment. In 2011 Joseph returned to his clinical training within the NHS before joining the NHLI as a Walport Clinical Lecturer following the award of his PhD in February 2012.

Sebastian Johnston, Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, said: “I worked with Joseph over the last five years, and was looking forward to working closely with him into the future. He was an extraordinary man in the true meaning of the word – energetic, extremely talented and universally liked with a great sense of humour. His loss is devastating to many, both personally and professionally. My thoughts are with his wife, his parents and all those friends who were lucky enough to enjoy his wonderful company. We will miss him enormous