Jacky Smith is a Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester and an Honorary Consultant at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. She runs a multi-disciplinary research team whose focus is on understanding mechanisms underlying pathological cough. She also setup a regional clinical service seeing patients with refractory chronic cough. She is Director of the NIHR Manchester Clinical Research Facility, Respiratory Theme Lead in the NIHR Manchester Bioemdical Research Centre and an NIHR Senior Investigator.

Jacky Smith graduated in Medicine from Manchester University in 1992 and continued her training around the North West region in General and Respiratory Medicine. She undertook a PhD in the 'Measurement of Cough', awarded in 2004. This involved close collaboration with computer scientists and fuelled an interest in acoustics and signal processing. After completing specialist training she was funded to continue her research by a Stepping Stones Award (Manchester University) and then an MRC Clinician Scientist Award. Her MRC funding allowed here to spend a year studying the neurobiology of cough with Prof Brendan Canning, Johns Hopkins, Balitmore, MD. 

She also led the development of a novel method for semi-automated cough detection, that has been licensed to and commercialised by Vitalograph Ltd. This cough monitoring system has changed the standards by which novel cough therapies are evaluated in regulatory clinical trials and has facilitated the discovery of a new class of efficacious anti-tussive therapy, P2X3 antagonists .

In addition to continuing work developing new endpoints in cough monitoring, her main research interests lie in understanding the mechanisms underlying cough in respiratory diseases and the testing of novel anti-tussive therapies. Her research is funded by a Wellcome Investigator in Science Award and through the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre Respiratory Theme. She also collaborates widely with the pharmaceutical industry.

Information about the cough clinic and clinical research can be found at www.combatmycough.com

• Member of the Royal College Physicians (London)
• Member of British Thoracic Society
• Fellow of European Respiratory Society (FERS)
• Member of American Thoracic Soceity
• Member of the European Task Force for the Assessment of Cough
• ACCP guideline committee for the Management and Diagnosis of Chronic Cough
• Member of the International Society for the Study of Cough

MB ChB Manchester 1992

MRCP London 1996

PhD Manchester 2004

• Academic advisor to undergraduate medical students
• Advisor to Academic Clinical Fellows
• Supervisor to an Academic Clinical Fellow
• Mentor to NIHR Clinician Scientist

Research interests include:

• Measurement of cough and the cough reflex
• Airway Innervation and mechanisms of neuronal sensitisation
• Clinical trials of novel anti-tussive agents
• The role of gastro-oesophageal reflux in chronic cough

Affiliated Staff

• Dr James Digby (Clinical Fellow)
• Dr Jenny King (Clinical Fellow)
• Ms Kimberly Holt (Research Associate)
• Dr Rachel Dockry (Research Associate)
• Mrs Jo Mitchell (Pulmonary Physiologist)
• Mrs Shilpi Sen (Research Technician)
• Mr Phil Turner (Research Techician)
• Mr Paul Czyzyk (Research Technician)
• Ms Shannon Galgani (Senior Clincial Research Practitioner)
• Dr Kevin McGuinness (Senior Clinical Engineer)

Academic Collaborators

• Prof Maria Belvisi, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London
• Dr Brendan Canning, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Balitmore, Maryland
• Prof Doug Corfield, University of Manchester
• Mr Andy Camilleri, ENT Surgery, UHSM
• Mr Simon Galloway, GI Surgery, UHSM
• Professor Peter Calverley and Dr John Earis, University Hospital Aintree, University of Liverpool
• Professor Neil Thomson, Division of Immunology, Infection & Inflammation, University of Glasgow
• Prof Jeff Pearson and Dr Chris Ward, School of Clinical Medical Sciences, Newcastle University
• Dr Andrea Aliverti, Dipartimento di Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

Clinical research skills: bronchial challenge testing, cough reflex sensitivity testing, pulmonary function testing, exhaled nitric oxide measurement, sputum induction, endo-bronchial biopsy, brushing and lavage, optico-electronic plethysmography, intra-oesophageal and gastric balloon pressure measurements

Clinical trials experience: design, applying for ethical approval, patient recruitment, data collection and analysis, including clinical trials of investigational medicinal products for the treatment of cough.

Statistics and data analysis skills: I have an interest in advanced statistical techniques such as factor analysis, cluster analysis and recently structural equation modelling.

Signal Processing Skills: I have a basic understanding of acoustic signal processing and speech recognition techniques from a close collaboration with computer scientists and engineers