Peter Openshaw (immunologist)

Peter Openshaw FRCP FMedSci (born 11 November 1954) is an English clinician and scientist specialising in lung immunology, particularly defence against viral infections. He trained in lung diseases and undertook a PhD in immunology before establishing a laboratory at St Mary's Hospital Medical School (later part of Imperial College London). He created the academic department of Respiratory Medicine and the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College and was elected President of the British Society for Immunology in 2014.

Peter John Morland Openshaw
Born (1954-11-11) 11 November 1954
Glastonbury, Somerset, England
Alma materGuy's Hospital
Scientific career
Fieldsimmunology
InstitutionsImperial College London
ThesisBenefit and harm from immunity to respiratory syncytial virus (1988)

Early life

Openshaw was born on 11 November 1954 in Glastonbury, Somerset. He attended Millfield Junior School, then the Quaker boarding schools Sidcot School and Bootham School, followed by Guy's Hospital Medical School (University of London). He earned an intercalated BSc in Physiology (Hons., 1976), qualified in medicine (MB BS, 1979), and worked at the Royal Brompton Hospital and as medical registrar at Royal Postgraduate Medical School (Hammersmith Hospital).

Career
Immunological work

Originally trained in lung mechanics, his PhD at the National Institute for Medical Research at Mill Hill, London was in T cell immunology. He has worked on protective and harmful immunological reactions to viruses, inflammatory lung disease and vaccine development since 1985, authoring over 200 scientific articles (h-index= 52).

Respiratory virus research

He was awarded the Chanock prize (2012, Santa Fe USA) in recognition of his lifetime achievement in work on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) research. He has been involved in influenza policy since 2002 as a member of UK advisory boards and was Vice President of ESWI (European Scientific Working Group on Influenza) from 2009-2014. In 2009 he set up the MOSAIC consortium, a collaboration of 45 co-investigators studying the host response to influenza in patients admitted to 11 hospitals in London and Liverpool (Wellcome Trust/MRC support) and directs studies of viral challenge of human volunteers.

Academic leadership

Openshaw established the academic department of Respiratory Medicine on the St Mary’s Campus of Imperial College and created the Centre for Respiratory Infection (Wellcome Trust funded). He became President of the British Society for Immunology in 2014, the first clinician to lead the Society. He has sat on numerous governmental, grant awarding and international committees.

Advisory

Openshaw is a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group.[1]

Honours

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (1994), Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999); Fellow of the Society of Biology (2014); NIHR Senior Investigator (2013).

Selected publications

References
  1. "New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
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