Professor Luke Howard

Medical training Prof Luke Howard completed his undergraduate training in Physiological Sciences at the University of Oxford, which he followed directly with his research doctorate, also at Oxford, in Altitude Physiology. He moved to the University of Cambridge to complete his clinical studies. He acquired his general medical training in London at the Royal Brompton Hospital and Guys and St Thomas' Hospital and then undertook specialist training in Cambridge and Papworth before moving back to London to take up his current consultant position. Current appointments Prof Howard was appointed Consultant Respiratory Physician to the National Pulmonary Hypertension Service at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London in 2006. He also holds a Professor of Practice post in Cardiopulmonary Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He runs the Exercise Physiology Service, based at Hammersmith Hospital. He has an active research programme in Pulmonary Hypertension and Exercise Physiology, as well as sitting on national and international committees and guideline groups for pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism, oxygen therapy and air travel. He is regarded as an international expert, lecturing around the world in his areas of interest.

Prof Howard's first main area of interest is pulmonary hypertension, a disorder of the blood vessels in the lungs. Since the heart has to pump its entire output through the lungs to re-oxygenate the blood, pulmonary hypertension puts great strain on the heart. While usually considered rare, pulmonary hypertension can develop in patients with various common heart and lung conditions, particularly pulmonary embolism (clots to the lungs), emphysema or heart failure. Consequently, understanding how the heart and lungs interact is critical in his clinical practice, which fits neatly with his second area of interest, Sports and Exercise Physiology. These specialist interests put him in the privileged position of looking after people across the whole spectrum of fitness from those patients with severe limitation to international athletes. This broad understanding also means that patients are often referred to him if they experience breathlessness that is proving difficult to diagnose.