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Our lungs work hard to keep us alive and breathing. But how do we repay them? With a daily battle against airborne pollutants. With chronic lung disease now the third biggest killer, this is a battle we are losing. Tonight, we will explore the consequences of smoking and airborne particulate matter on our lung health and discuss what we can do to turn the tide to give our lungs a helping hand
Disappearing in a puff of smoke? Why is there still smoking-related lung disease?
Dr Karl Staples
(Associate Professor in Translational Medicine)
With smoking rates declining in the UK why is the incidence of lung disease still high? In this talk Karl Staples will discuss some of the history of smoking, the biology of how smoking leads to chronic lung diseases such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the possible impacts of the rise of vaping on these diseases.
Air Pollution – Why Particulates Matter
Dr Matt Loxham
(BBSRC Future Leader Fellow/NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre Senior Research Fellow)
Airborne particulate matter – microscopic particles which we inhale with every breath – is all around us, and affects everyone from birth until death. But where does it come from? What is it made of? What does it do to us? How can we protect ourselves? Why is it so difficult to find an effective solution? In this talk, Dr Matt Loxham will use the most up-to-date evidence, along with examples from his own group’s research in Southampton, to answer these questions and explain why air pollution is a persistent problem which requires our urgent attention.
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