Ian Town FRACP | |
|---|---|
 Town in November 2020 | |
| Born | George Ian Town |
| Education | University of Otago University of Southampton |
| Employer | Ministry of Health |
George Ian Town FRACP is a New Zealand respiratory scientist and health official. He was appointed the Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 2019.
After graduating MB ChB at the University of Otago, Town completed a Doctor of Medicine higher degree at the University of Southampton in 1991, with a thesis entitled The role of inflammation in oxygen-induced lung injury in the preterm guinea pig. [1]
Town is a physician and has published on evidence-based guidelines for respiratory medicine, particularly asthma, COPD and pneumonia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. [2]
Town was the Dean of the University of Otago in Christchurch from 2002 to 2005. [3] He was the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Canterbury from 2005 to 2013. [4] He has been Chair of the Performance Based Research Fund Sector Reference Group and Chair of the Tertiary Education Commission PBRF Governance Group. [4] He was the Chair of Te Papa Hauora/Christchurch Health Precinct Advisory Council, advising on the post-earthquake rebuild, for five years. [4] [5]
Town was appointed as Chief Science Advisor to the Ministry of Health in July 2019. [6] [4] His role at the Ministry was originally part-time, and involved working with MBIE and the Health Research Council to implement the New Zealand Health Research Strategy 2017–2027. [4] [6] When COVID-19 arrived in New Zealand his background in respiratory medicine led to his advising full-time on the New Zealand response to COVID-19. [6] [7] [8]
 | Scholia has a profile for Ian Town (Q105047287). |
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, pleurae, pleural cavity, the nerves and muscles of respiration. Respiratory diseases range from mild and self-limiting, such as the common cold, influenza, and pharyngitis to life-threatening diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, tuberculosis, acute asthma, lung cancer, and severe acute respiratory syndromes, such as COVID-19. Respiratory diseases can be classified in many different ways, including by the organ or tissue involved, by the type and pattern of associated signs and symptoms, or by the cause of the disease.
Caplan's syndrome is a combination of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and pneumoconiosis that manifests as intrapulmonary nodules, which appear homogenous and well-defined on chest X-ray.
Fenoterol is a β adrenoreceptor agonist. It is classed as sympathomimetic β2 agonist and an inhaled bronchodilator asthma medication.
Pulmonary rehabilitation, also known as respiratory rehabilitation, is an important part of the management and health maintenance of people with chronic respiratory disease who remain symptomatic or continue to have decreased function despite standard medical treatment. It is a broad therapeutic concept. It is defined by the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society as an evidence-based, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive intervention for patients with chronic respiratory diseases who are symptomatic and often have decreased daily life activities. In general, pulmonary rehabilitation refers to a series of services that are administered to patients of respiratory disease and their families, typically to attempt to improve the quality of life for the patient. Pulmonary rehabilitation may be carried out in a variety of settings, depending on the patient's needs, and may or may not include pharmacologic intervention.
Pneumonia is a common respiratory infection, affecting approximately 450 million people a year and occurring in all parts of the world. It is a major cause of death among all age groups, resulting in 1.4 million deaths in 2010 and 3.0 million deaths in 2016.
Professor Mark Andrew Woodhead FRCP FERS is a world authority on lung infection and pneumonia. He has been the National Clinical Adviser on pneumonia to the Department of Health since 2010, a Consultant in General and Respiratory Medicine at the Manchester Royal Infirmary since 1992, Honorary Clinical Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Manchester since 2011 and an Honorary Research Fellow of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine since 2013.
Amanda Herbert is a British cytopathologist and histopathologist.
Heather J Zar is a South African physician and scientist specialising in the care of children with respiratory diseases like asthma, tuberculosis and pneumonia.
A focal lung pneumatosis, is an enclosed pocket of air or gas in the lung and includes blebs, bullae, pulmonary cysts, and lung cavities. Blebs and bullae can be classified by their wall thickness.
Suzanne Georgina Pitama is a New Zealand academic, is Māori, of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Whare descent and as of 2020 is a full professor at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Marion Frances Robinson was a New Zealand nutritionist and physiologist. She was professor of nutrition at the University of Otago, and is particularly noted for her investigation of the importance of selenium in the human diet.
Neil John Gemmell, is a New Zealand geneticist. His research areas cover evolutionary genetics and genomics, molecular ecology, and conservation biology. Originally from Lower Hutt, he obtained his PhD at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2008, Gemmell has been a professor at the University of Otago and since 2019 holds one of their seven Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chairs. Significant work includes the search of the Loch Ness Monster (2018) and the sequencing of the tuatara genome. In 2020, Gemmell received the Hutton Medal by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Rachel C. Brown is a New Zealand scientist, professor and deputy head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago.
Lisa Anne Houghton is a New Zealand-based scientist, professor and head of the Department of Human Nutrition at the University of Otago.
Debra Lynn Waters is a New Zealand exercise physiologist and medical researcher in the field of health ageing, director of Gerontology Research and professor at the University of Otago.
Gillian Abel is a New Zealand public health researcher and as of 2021 head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago in Christchurch.
Nicola Jane Spurrier PSM is an Australian paediatrician who has been the Chief Public Health Officer of South Australia since August 2019.
David R. Murdoch is a New Zealand academic specialising in paediatric infectious diseases, especially pneumonia. He has also worked on Legionnaires' disease and has advised the Oxford University vaccine group and the New Zealand government on COVID19. He will become Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago in early 2022.
Diana Rae Martin was a New Zealand microbiologist. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi from 2000, and was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology in 2008.
Anne Louise Wyllie is a New Zealand microbiologist who was the lead author of a 2020 research article which led to the development of the SalivaDirect PCR method of testing saliva for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. She has also worked on community studies to better understand pneumococcal disease. She is a research scientist in epidemiology with the Public Health Modeling Unit at Yale University.
