51³Ô¹ÏÍø

The National Heart and Lung Institute is delighted that 9 of our academics have been recognised in the latest round of promotions across 51³Ô¹ÏÍø.

As we celebrate this year's promotions, Professor Barbara Casadei, Head of the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), shared her congratulations, “I’m thrilled to see the hard work and achievements of our NHLI colleagues recognised in this year’s promotions. A huge well done to all — this is a fantastic reflection of your talent and commitment.” 

Ryan Thwaites – Promoted to Associate Professor in Respiratory Immunology 

Ryan completed his BSc in Biochemistry at Sheffield and earned his PhD at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, focusing on innate immunity in autoimmune disease. He transitioned to work on human experimental medicine studies when he joined 51³Ô¹ÏÍø in 2015.. His current research explores mucosal immunity in the upper airway, aiming to develop better vaccines and therapies for respiratory infections. 

"I’m so excited to take this next major step in my career. It feels like a big vote of confidence from my peers and a validation that my work is going in the right direction. 51³Ô¹ÏÍø has been so supportive of my career at multiple key stages and this promotion shows how that support is continuing." 

Prashant Srivastava – Promoted to Associate Professor in Bioinformatics and Medical Statistics 

Prashant’s career spans computational biology, statistical modelling, and biomedical informatics. His research investigates gene networks and RNA biology in diabetes-related complications, and he is developing therapeutic peptides to modulate cardiac function, bridging computational biology and translational medicine.

"I am honoured to be promoted to Associate Professor at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. This achievement reflects the collective efforts of colleagues, collaborators, and mentors whose support has been invaluable, as well as the encouragement of my family throughout this journey.

The promotion represents a significant milestone in my academic career and reinforces my commitment to advancing biomedical science, fostering collaboration, and supporting the next generation of researchers." 

Sonia Nielles-Vallespin – Promoted to Associate Professor in Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Physics 

Sonia leads a team at NHLI specialising in Cardiovascular Magnetic

Resonance (CMR), developing innovative imaging techniques to improve diagnosis and management of heart disease. Her group pioneered the first robust in vivo diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging  (cDTI) technique and now holds the world’s largest library of cDTI data, spanning healthy hearts, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease. They continue to advance cDTI for clinical use while deepening understanding of cardiac microstructure in health and disease through close collaboration with clinical teams at the Royal Brompton Hospital and partners across 51³Ô¹ÏÍø. 

“I am grateful for the amazing support I receive every day from the NHLI and Faculty leadership. This promotion makes me feel valued, and I am committed to do my best to contribute positively to this amazing department and university.” 

 Rasha Al-Lamee – Promoted to Professor of Cardiology 

Rasha is a clinician scientist and cardiovascular trialist whose work began with the landmark ORBITA trial, the first placebo-controlled study of coronary intervention. She leads a research group at NHLI focused on understanding coronary artery disease and has launched the Lancet Commission on coronary artery disease this year to shift global perspectives on treatment. 

"I am delighted to have been promoted to Professor of Cardiology. It has made me immensely proud to join the many incredible Professors at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø that I have admired for many years. I have many colleagues, students, and friends to thank for their support.

Most importantly I would like to thank my wonderful family who have been with me all the way - we are all celebrating this moment. I am proud to lead a group that calls itself the ORBITA team and I hope that we all continue to grow from strength to strength and inspire new generations of clinician scientists." 

Fu Siong Ng – Promoted to Professor of Cardiology 

Fu Siong is a clinical academic and consultant cardiologist whose interdisciplinary research group spans clinicians, engineers, physicists, and computer scientists. His work applies AI to electrophysiological signals, developing models that outperform expert cardiologists in diagnosing and predicting heart conditions. His team is now validating these models in clinical studies within the NHS.

"I am absolutely delighted with my promotion. One of the best parts of the promotion is hearing from many old friends and colleagues, who have all gotten in touch recently with messages of congratulations. I am extremely lucky to have had wonderful mentors who have supported me over the years, and also great PhD students, fellows and post-docs, who have all worked very hard to contribute to my group’s successes - none of my achievements would have been possible without them." 

Peter George – Promoted to Professor of Practice (Respiratory Medicine) 

Peter George began his medical journey at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College School of Medicine, graduating in 2005 with a BSc in Pharmacology and Toxicology. His career has spanned clinical training, a PhD at NHLI, and specialist training in interstitial lung disease in London and Denver, and he has been the Clinical Lead of the Interstitial Lung Disease Unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital since 2018. His research focuses on improving outcomes for patients with interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis, including developing AI-powered CT imaging biomarkers that predict disease progression and are now used in clinical trials and practice in the US. 

"I feel deeply honoured to have been awarded this promotion from the University where I started my journey in medicine over 25 years ago. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with inspirational colleagues and mentors and with this promotion comes an enduring responsibility to double my efforts in helping advance scientific discovery for patients who suffer with life limiting fibrotic lung diseases."

Claudia Gore – Promoted to Professor of Practice in Paediatric Allergy 

Claudia is a practising paediatric allergist and researcher whose academic journey began with research at Harvard and continued with a PhD in eczema and allergy. Her current work includes the TLA4AE trial on allergen reduction and the EczemaNet AI tool for severity assessment across diverse skin tones. She also focuses on improving adolescent allergy transition. 

"I'm delighted about my promotion and really happy that 51³Ô¹ÏÍø values the contributions of full-time clinicians who are research active, innovative, and enthusiastic." 

Sadia Khan – Promoted to Professor of Practice (Cardiology) 

Sadia is an NHS clinician whose research focuses on integrating digitaltechnologies, particularly wearables, into patient pathways. Her work aims to enhance clinical care through innovation. 

"I'm really delighted to receive this promotion and I hope it helps support direct patient benefit from research." 

NHLI congratulates all those promoted and looks forward to the continued impact of their work in shaping the future of global heart and lung health.