Dr Richard Hewitt

Dr Richard Hewitt is a consultant respiratory physician who specialises in interstitial lung disease (ILD), a large group of conditions which can cause inflammation and scarring (fibrosis) in the lung. He is also experienced in managing a wide range of general respiratory conditions. His NHS practice is at the Royal Brompton Hospital, a world-leading, specialist heart and lung hospital, where he is a member of the interstitial lung disease unit, the largest of its kind in Europe. Dr Hewitt qualified with distinctions at Imperial College London in 2011 and achieved first-class honours in an intercalated BSc in respiratory sciences. He undertook postgraduate general medical training in London attaining MRCP(UK) in 2014. He trained in respiratory medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and the Royal Brompton Hospital. Dr Hewitt gained extensive research experience through NIHR academic clinical fellowship and clinical lectureship awards and holds a postgraduate certificate in genomics medicine. In 2017 he was awarded a prestigious Imperial College Clinician-Investigator Scholarship and went on to complete a PhD in the National Heart and Lung Institute. His doctoral research focused on the role of airway epithelial cells and immune cells in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). He is now an adjunct senior lecturer at King’s College London where he is developing a research programme investigating airway immune changes in early fibrosing lung disease including those with interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) detected through computed tomography (CT) screening programmes. Through research into early disease mechanisms, he is working towards developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to treat pulmonary fibrosis. In addition to his clinical work, he provides clinical and educational supervision to respiratory specialist trainees and internal medicine trainees at Royal Brompton Hospital. He is a member of the British Thoracic Society (BTS) Lung Disease Registry Steering Group.

Interstitial lung disease Pulmonary fibrosis