Sir Peter John Barnes, FRCP, FCCP, FMedSci, FRS (born 29 October 1946) is a British respiratory scientist and

clinician A clinician is a health care professional typically employed at a skilled nursing facility or clinic. Clinicians work directly with patients rather than in a laboratory or as a researcher. A clinician may diagnose, treat, and otherwise care for pa ...

, a specialist in the mechanisms and treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was Margaret Turner-Warwick Professor of Thoracic Medicine at the National Heart & Lung Institute, previous head of respiratory medicine at

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and honorary consultant physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital London. He is one of the most highly cited scientists in the world

Early life

Barnes was born in Birmingham and went to school at Leamington College. He won an open scholarship to St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in natural sciences (first-class honours) in 1969. He moved to the Clinical School University of Oxford, where he was a scholar and graduated BM, BCh in 1972.

Medical career

After qualifying in medicine, he undertook clinical training at the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. History The initial proposals to build a hospital in Oxford were put forw ...

Oxford, followed by posts in London at Brompton Hospital, Queen Square and UCH. In 1978 he moved to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School to undertake research in

respiratory pharmacology There are several categories of respiratory drugs, each specific to a drug's purpose and mode of action. The following is a list of key pharmaceuticals in the prevention and treatment of respiratory-related ailments. Adrenergic (Sympathomimetic) ...

and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine(DM) from the University of Oxford. In 1981 he spent a year at the Cardiovascular Research Institute UCSF Medical Center. Returning to London, he worked as a senior registrar at

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...

and in 1982 was appointed consultant physician and clinical senior lecturer at RPMS. He then took up the newly created chair of clinical pharmacology at the NHLI in 1985, which was subsequently incorporated as a postgraduate institute into

and became an honorary consultant physician at Royal Brompton Hospital. In 1987 he was appointed to the established chair of thoracic medicine at NHLI and was head of respiratory medicine at

until 2017. Barnes was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part o ...

for services to respiratory science.

Research

His research initially focussed on adrenergic regulation of the airways, the role of endogenous

catecholamines A catecholamine (; abbreviated CA) is a monoamine neurotransmitter, an organic compound that has a catechol (benzene with two hydroxyl side groups next to each other) and a side-chain amine. Catechol can be either a free molecule or a substi ...

(particularly

epinephrine Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...

adrenergic receptors The adrenergic receptors or adrenoceptors are a class of G protein-coupled receptors that are targets of many catecholamines like norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and epinephrine (adrenaline) produced by the body, but also many medications like beta ...

and the role of cholinergic neural mechanisms in asthma. He was the first to map the distribution of receptors in the lung using radioligand

autoradiography An autoradiograph is an image on an X-ray film or nuclear emulsion produced by the pattern of decay emissions (e.g., beta particles or gamma rays) from a distribution of a radioactive substance. Alternatively, the autoradiograph is also available ...

. His group investigated the role of neuropeptides in asthma and he proposed the

axon reflex The axon reflex (or the flare response) is the response stimulated by peripheral nerves of the body that travels away from the nerve cell body and branches to stimulate target organs. Reflexes are single reactions that respond to a stimulus making ...

mechanism of asthma Their investigation into the role of inflammatory mechanisms in asthma and the role of inflammatory mediators, lead to an understanding of how transcription factors, such as NF-κB, regulate the expression of multiple inflammatory genes in the airways and how

glucocorticosteroids Glucocorticoids (or, less commonly, glucocorticosteroids) are a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Glucocorticoids are corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor that is present in almost every vertebr ...

suppress inflammation by switching off these transcriptional mechanisms. His research explored mechanisms of severe asthma and in particular steroid-resistance in asthma, identifying several molecular mechanisms. He also investigated how β₂-agonists and corticosteroids interact as these are the most commonly used drug therapies for asthma. His research group has also investigated inflammatory mechanisms in COPD, using the same approaches that had been used in asthma. An important achievement was to elucidate the molecular mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticosteroids in asthma through the recruitment of histone deacetylase 2(HDAC2) to activated inflammatory genes, thereby reversing the histone acetylation that is involved in inflammatory gene activation. His research also investigated why glucocorticosteroids are ineffective in suppressing inflammation in COPD, demonstrating that this is due to decreased activity and expression of HDAC2 as a result of oxidative stress through tyrosine nitration and

phosphorylation In chemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology and could be driven by natural selection. Text was copied from this source, wh ...

via PI3K-δ. He also showed that theophylline was able to restore HDAC2 and reverse steroid resistance in COPD by selectively inhibiting oxidant-activated PI3Kδ. He also pioneered the use of non-invasive markers to monitor inflammation in the airways and particularly exhaled nitric oxide, which is increased in asthma and reduced by steroid therapy. His research has had a major impact on current understanding of asthma and COPD mechanisms and how current therapies for these diseases work. This has identified several novel targets for therapy. As a result of his research on steroid-resistance he co-founded (together with Garth Rapeport and Kazuhiro Ito) a

spin-out A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, or starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. Characte ...

company within

called RespiVert in 2007, which has discovered novel inhaled therapies that are now in clinical development for treatment of severe asthma and COPD since the company was acquired by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

in 2010.

Publications

Barnes is the author of over 1,500 publications in peer-reviewed journals and is one of the most highly cited scientists in the world. He has edited or co-edited over 50 books on asthma, COPD and respiratory pharmacology. His Web of Science h-index is over 200 with over 150,000 citations.

Family life

He married Olivia Harvard-Watts, a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...

, in 1976 and they have three sons: Adam (born 1978), Toby (born 1983) and Julian (born 1988).

Honours and awards

*1991 Linacre Lecture: Royal College of Physicians *1995 Dutch Medical Federation Annual Prize *1996 Amberson Lecture: American Thoracic Society *1997 MD

Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

: University of Ferrara *1997 William Withering Lecture: Royal College of Physicians *1998 Founding Fellow: Academy of Medical Sciences *1998 Erasmus Lecture: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (University of Brussels) *1999 Sadoul Lecture: European Respiratory Society *2000 Manuel Albertal Memorial Lecture:

American College of Chest Physicians The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is a medical association in the United States consisting of physicians and non-physician specialists in the field of chest medicine, which includes pulmonology, critical care medicine, and sleep med ...

*2001 MD Honoris Causa: University of Athens *2001 Poulson Prize: Norwegian Pharmacology Society *2002 College Medalist:

*2008 MD Honoris Causa: University of Tampere *2007 Fellow of Royal Society (first respiratory researcher elected since Heny Hyde Salter in 1856) *2007 Gold Medal: British Thoracic Society *2009 Croonian Lecture: Royal College of Physicians *2009 Senior Investigator: National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) *2010 MD

Catholic University of Leuven University of Leuven or University of Louvain (french: Université de Louvain, link=no; nl, Universiteit Leuven, link=no) may refer to: * Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) * State University of Leuven (1817–1835) * Catholic University of ...

*2011 Honorary Fellow

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

*2012 Master FCCP:

*2012 Member Academia Europaea (European Academy) *2013 President: European Respiratory Society *2014 Doctorate Honoris Causa: University of Maastricht *2019-2023 President:

British Association for Lung Research British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

(BALR) *2020 Trudeau Meda

American Thoracic Society *2020 Honorary Fellowship, British Pharmacology Societ

*2022 The Imperial College Medal

References

External sources

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Citations

COPD interview

ScienceWatch interview on COPD research
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Peter J. British pulmonologists Fellows of the Royal Society British pharmacologists Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) NIHR Senior Investigators 21st-century British medical doctors Respiratory diseases 1946 births Living people Knights Bachelor Alumni of the University of Oxford