Amelia Shoemark PhD

Dr Amelia Shoemark completed her PhD in respiratory medicine at the National, Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. Her PhD work investigated inflammation in the lungs of patients with the chronic respiratory condition bronchiectasis helping to define the causes of the disease (http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bronchiectasis/).

In her role as lead clinical scientist at the Royal Brompton Hospital Amelia developed a specialist interest in an inherited cause of bronchiectasis, Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia (PCD) (http://pcdsupport.org.uk/). She set up and led a nationally-funded laboratory for the diagnosis of Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia from 2007-2017, a position she still holds part-time. Her translational research interests, funded by a personal post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) brought new reliable, and affordable tests for PCD with improved diagnostic sensitivity. These included the development of a clinically validated panel of immunofluorescent antibodies, the development of 3D electron microscopy, and in close collaboration with Dr Hannah Mitchison at University College London the identification of more than 10 of the genes now known to cause PCD. These translational areas of research have led to numerous publications in high-impact journals and a national role out of novel techniques to enhance diagnostic accuracy for all patients in the UK.

Amelia joined the Chalmers lab at the University of Dundee as a post-doctoral scientist in 2017 to conduct research into bronchiectasis supported by the British Lung Foundation (https://www.blf.org.uk/). With Prof. Chalmers Amelia will run a 5 year program of research using state-of-the-art laboratory techniques to understand the different patterns of lung inflammation and infection in bronchiectasis patients and to assess the role of cilia in disease. The team will work closely with other world-leading researchers in the EMBARC European Bronchiectasis Registry, a pan-European network committed to promoting clinical research and education in bronchiectasis (https://www.bronchiectasis.eu/).