Summary
Since 1999 I have worked as a respiratory consultant at Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals, now part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. I am the senior respiratory physician at Hammersmith. I have a significant cohort of patients with interstitial lung disease, including sarcoidosis, connective tissue disease related lung disease, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The ILD service is commissioned by NHS England and has European Reference Network accreditation. I have been PI on a number of commercial and non-commercial studies. I helped establish the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Interstitial Lung Disease Registry, which now holds over 3,000 patient records from 60 centres in the UK. In 2021 I was honoured to receive the BTS Meritorious Service Award in recognition of my contribution to respiratory medicine.
I set up and chaired the BTS Air Travel Working Party from 1999 to 2011, and chaired the BTS Clinical Statement Group on Air Travel from 2018 to 2022. In 2002 we were the first country to produce comprehensive recommendations for passengers with lung disease undertaking air travel. The BTS Clinical Statement on air travel for passengers with respiratory disease was published in Thorax in 2022. In 2019 my work on air travel and passenger safety received international recognition from the Royal Aeronautical Society, with an individual Bronze Medal.
As Clinical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network North West London I have been privileged to champion and broaden access to clinical research across the region. Since 2014 we have increased our proportion of national funding by one third to £16.4 M and recruited nearly 425,000 patients. We led on REMAP-CAP during the Covid pandemic; we contributed 66% of global recruitment to this landmark study. In 2021, building on our successful regional Covid vaccine collaboration, we set up the North West London Clinical Trials Alliance. This generated 16 M of commercial income for North West London in 2021-2022, and was shortlisted for the New Statesman's inaugural Positive Impact Awards. Following work to improve research inclusivity, the Janssen vaccine study recruited 15.3% from an ethnic minority background, compared with 5.7% in earlier vaccine trials. In 2021 we also established the Schools Research Network, which brings together over 50 schools with Listen to Act (formerly Healthwatch), Imperial College, and the NIHR North West London Applied Research Collaborative. NWL CRN has led the country in primary and community care research since 2018; 95% of GPs contributed to NIHR research studies in 2021-2022.
Throughout my career, I have taught Imperial College medical students at various stages of their training, as well as postgraduates working in the NHS, In 2023 my commitment to education and mentoring was recognised when I was made Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in the City of London.
In 2022 I was honoured to serve as President of the Harveian Society of London, with a lecture programme with international reach.
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Ahmedzai S, Balfour-Lynn IM, Bewick T, et al., 2011, Managing passengers with stable respiratory disease planning air travel: British Thoracic Society recommendations, Thorax, Vol:66, ISSN:0040-6376, Pages:1-30
Coker RK, 2009, Management strategies for pulmonary sarcoidosis., Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management, Vol:5, ISSN:1176-6336, Pages:575-584
Coker RK, Shiner R, Partridge MR, 2008, Is air travel safe for those with lung disease?, European Respiratory Journal, Vol:32, ISSN:0903-1936, Pages:1423-1424
Macedo P, Coker RK, Partridge MR, 2007, Is there a uniform approach to the management of diffuse parenchymal lung disease (DPLD) in the UK? A national benchmarking exercise., Bmc Pulm Med, Vol:7
Coker RK, 2007, Guidelines for the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis, Drugs, Vol:67, ISSN:0012-6667, Pages:1139-1147