Leanne Hale

Specialism: Respiratory Nurse Specialist Lead

Leanne is a Respiratory Nurse Specialist Lead at Asthma + Lung UK, with over 20 years’ experience in respiratory nursing across both primary and secondary care. She is an experienced respiratory nurse and independent prescriber, with a particular interest in supporting people living with complex and long-term lung conditions.In her current role, Leanne leads the clinical team supporting Asthma + Lung UK’s Helpline, providing advice and support to people living with a wide range of respiratory conditions, including interstitial lung disease. Her experience across different healthcare settings, alongside her current work with people living with lung conditions, gives her insight into the challenges of navigating care between primary, secondary and specialist services and the important role primary care plays in supporting people living with ILD.

Dr Liz O’Donovan

Specialism: Consultant Radiologist

Liz is a Consultant Radiologist at The Royal Devon University Hospital Trust in Exeter.  Her radiological practice covers many areas of radiology, both acute and non-acute.  She has a specialist interest in imaging of the chest, in particular interstitial lung disease, and chest oncology.   Liz trained at St Mary’s hospital medical school at Imperial college, graduating in 2002. After completing basic surgical training on the Northwest London rotation, she commenced her radiological career in 2006.  Liz trained on the Chelsea and Westminster Radiology scheme. During this time she spent several months at the Royal Brompton hospital which helped spark her interest in chest imaging. Liz completed her radiology training with a fellowship in cross sectional oncological imaging at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.  The family relocated to Devon in 2014 and shortly after this she joined the ILD team at Exeter. She regularly participates in the regional ILD MDT, reporting and reviewing ILD imaging. 

Naomi Rippon

Specialism: ILD Research Nurse

Naomi brings over 14 years of specialist experience in Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), having begun her career as an ILD Research Nurse. During this time, she was privileged to contribute to some of the original clinical research programmes investigating nintedanib, an experience that helped shape her passion for advancing ILD care and improving outcomes for patients. For the past several years, Naomi has worked as an ILD Specialist Nurse, developing extensive expertise in the management and holistic care of patients living with ILD. As a Nurse Prescriber and member of a specialist ILD nursing team, she is committed to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care and supporting patients to achieve the best possible quality of life. Alongside her clinical practice, Naomi is passionate about education and professional development. She and her colleagues work to enhance the knowledge and confidence of healthcare professionals involved in ILD care, with the aim of ensuring that patients receive timely, evidence-based and holistic care throughout their journey. Naomi’s career has been driven by a strong commitment to improving the lives of people living with ILD and advancing the standard of care for this patient population.

Michelle Westlake

Michelle Westlake serves as the lead Interstitial Lung Disease Nurse Specialist at North Bristol NHS Trust.She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in the Philippines. She was a ward sister in the Respiratory ward before joining the Bristol Interstitial Lung Disease Service. She is passionate about ILD and committed to supporting patients and colleagues by working collaboratively. She provides education to respiratory colleagues across primary and secondary care.She is a Non-Medical Independent Prescriber providing initiation, monitoring and supply of antifibrotics. She runs a well led nurse clinic and her daily role is generally clinically focussed, seeing new and follow up patients. She is passionate in managing ILD patients and finding ways to manage their End Of Life (EOL) care better. She help introduce the Integrated Palliative Care, Palliative ILD Psychology MDT, Dedicated ReSPECT clinics, Working with St Peters Hospice and Palliative Care teams. She help published the Specialist Palliative Care, Psychology, Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) multidisciplinary team meeting: a novel model to address palliative care needs and did a poster presentation in the American Thoracic Society Conference in San Diego in 2018. She also enjoys running the Bristol Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group.

Charlotte Hogben – BI Symposium Speaker

Dr Pilar Ortega

Dr Giles Dixon

Giles Dixon is a Specialist Trainee in Respiratory Medicine and has just completed his PhD in the South West. His research investigates how quantitative CT scanning, a technique where algorithms analyse CT scans to produce biomarkers of disease, can help improve prognostication and disease monitoring in fibrotic interstitial lung disease

Dr Voon Ong

Voon Ong is Professor of Experimental Rheumatology and Honorary Consultant Rheumatologist at UCL. His interest focuses on scleroderma spectrum diseases and Raynaud's syndrome. One of his main research interests is in the translational aspects of scleroderma, specifically cytokines and the innate and adaptive immune networks which complements the clinical service at the largest national centre for scleroderma and related diseases. He has led several key studies in the assessment of cytokines as putative biomarkers and therapeutic targets in scleroderma and immune-phenotyping. As the clinical lead in scleroderma at Royal Free UCL, he is the principal investigator in numerous clinical trials in scleroderma and has contributed to major papers published in this field including national guidelines for management of scleroderma and related complications.

Michelle Westlake

Michelle Westlake serves as the lead Interstitial Lung Disease Nurse Specialist at North Bristol NHS Trust.She completed her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in the Philippines. She was a ward sister in the Respiratory ward before joining the Bristol Interstitial Lung Disease Service. She is passionate about ILD and committed to supporting patients and colleagues by working collaboratively. She provides education to respiratory colleagues across primary and secondary care.She is a Non-Medical Independent Prescriber providing initiation, monitoring and supply of antifibrotics. She runs a well led nurse clinic and her daily role is generally clinically focussed, seeing new and follow up patients. She is passionate in managing ILD patients and finding ways to manage their End Of Life (EOL) care better. She help introduce the Integrated Palliative Care, Palliative ILD Psychology MDT, Dedicated ReSPECT clinics, Working with St Peters Hospice and Palliative Care teams. She help published the Specialist Palliative Care, Psychology, Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) multidisciplinary team meeting: a novel model to address palliative care needs and did a poster presentation in the American Thoracic Society Conference in San Diego in 2018. She also enjoys running the Bristol Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group.