Dr Alice M Turner MBChB (Hons), MRCP, PGCE (MedEd), PhD

Dr Alice Turner

Department of Applied Health Sciences
Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician
Department Director of Research Knowledge and Transfer

Contact details

Address
Department of Applied Health Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Alice’s research interests are predominantly in clinical aspects of alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), fields in which she has published widely. Optimising monitoring and therapy for AATD is a major focus for her group. They are also studying aspects of care delivery for COPD, particularly those that span from secondary into primary care and including clinical trials that optimise self-management of COPD.

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Qualifications

  • FRCP 2020
  • PGDip Leadership & quality improvement 2019
  • PhD in Respiratory Medicine 2010
  • PGC in Medical Education 2007
  • MRCP 2004
  • MBChB (Hons) 2001

Teaching

  • MBChB (year 5 lead, conference poster module lead (year 4)
  • BMedSci (dissertation projects)
  • BClinSci (dissertation projects)
  • PGC/Dip/Masters Respiratory Medicine (Programme lead)

Postgraduate supervision

Alice Turner’s research interests are predominantly in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, fields in which she has published widely. She lectures to both Medical and Dental Students at the University and is involved in clinical teaching and examining in several local hospitals.

The following is a list of recent or current postgraduate degree supervision. Enquiries from self-funded potential students or those wishing to pursue a Fellowship in Dr Turner's current areas of research interest are welcome by email.

PhD - Cell specific genomics exploring shared pathogenesis between COPD and lung cancer (year 2)
PhD - The role of hypoxia in vascular co-morbidity in chronic inflammatory disease (write up)

Other activities

Academic/clinical committees

•           International

o          ERS AATD task force (2015-)

o          EARCO European AATD registry steering group (2018-)

o          Clinical Biomarker Qualification consortium, imaging subgroup (2018-)

•           National

o          BTS working party for care bundles (2013-14) 

o          BTS Specialist Advisory Group (SAG) on COPD (2015-18)

o          West Midlands Quality Review Service COPD steering group (2016-)

o          NICE health technology appraisal committee (2018-21)

o          NIHR HTA prioritization committee (2019-)

o          BTS quality improvement committee (2019-22)

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Spittle, D, Pye, A, Stanka, J, De Soyza, J, Stockley, R & Turner, A 2025, 'Bacterial colonisation doubles the risk of exacerbation in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency', Respiratory Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2025.108025

Ho, ESY, Ellis, PR, Kavanagh, D, Subramanian, D, Stockley, RA & Turner, A 2025, 'Proposal and Validation of the Minimum Clinically Important Difference in Emphysema Progression', Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation. https://doi.org/10.15326/jcopdf.2024.0511

Hall, J, Turner, A, Gkini, E, Mehta, R, Spiteri, M, Patel, N & Jowett, S 2025, 'The cost-effectiveness of a personalised early warning decision support system (The COPDPredictTM system) to predict and prevent acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease', International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Turner, AM, Spittle, DA, Staples, KS & Cleary, D 2024, 'Airway microbiome driven mechanisms of disease during optimised self management: a lesson learned from mechanistic study of the Colour-COPD trial', NIHR Journals Library.

Fromme, M, Schneider, CV, Guldiken, N, Amzou, S, Luo, Y, Pons, M, Genesca, J, Miravitlles, M, Thorhauge, KH, Mandorfer, M, Waern, J, Schneider, KM, Sperl, J, Frankova, S, Bartel, M, Zimmer, H, Zorn, M, Krag, A, Turner, A, Trautwein, C & Strnad, P 2024, 'Alcohol consumption and liver phenotype of individuals with alpha‐1 antitrypsin deficiency', Liver International. https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.16044

Miravitlles, M, Turner, AM, Sucena, M, Mornex, J-F, Greulich, T, Wencker, M & McElvaney, NG 2024, 'Assessment and monitoring of lung disease in patients with severe alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency: a european delphi consensus of the EARCO group', Respiratory research, vol. 25, no. 1, 318. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12931-024-02929-5

De Soyza, J, Ellis, P, Newnham, M, Rickard, L & Turner, AM 2024, 'Bronchiectasis occurs independently of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency', Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation. https://doi.org/10.15326/jcopdf.2024.0526

Ellis, P, Parekh, G, Duvoix, A, Watson, L, Sharp, A, Mobeen, F, Pye, A, Stockley, R & Turner, A 2024, 'Characteristics of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency related lung disease exacerbations using a daily symptom diary and urinary biomarkers', PLOS One, vol. 19, no. 2, e0297125. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297125

Patel, K, Pye, A, Edgar, R, Beadle, H, Ellis, P, Sitch, A, Dickens, A & Turner, A 2024, 'Cluster randomised controlled trial of specialist led integrated COPD care (INTEGR COPD)', Thorax. https://doi.org/10.1136/thorax-2023-220435

D'Elia, A, Jordan, RE, Cheng, KK, Chi, C, Correia de Sousa, J, Dickens, AP, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Gale, N, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze , M, Maghlakelidze, T, Martins, SM, Pan, Z, Sitch, A, Stavrikj, K, Turner, A, Williams, S & Adab, P 2024, 'COPD burden and healthcare management across four middle income countries within the Breathe Well research programme: a descriptive study', Global Health Research. https://doi.org/10.3310/WKVR4250

Dickens, AP, Gale, N, Adab, P, Cheng, KK, Chi, C, Correia de Sousa, J, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze , M, Maglakelidze, T, Martins, S, Pan, Z, Sitch, A, Stavrikj, K, Turner, A, Williams, S & Jordan, RE 2024, 'Development and application of a rapid research prioritisation process for identifying health research priorities in low- and middle-income countries: the RAPID-RP stakeholder analysis', Global Health Research, pp. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.3310/CTHF1385

Fernandes, G, Williams, S, Adab, P, Gale, N, de Jong, C, Correia-de-Sousa, J, Cheng, KK, Chi, C, Cooper, BG, Dickens, AP, Enocson, A, Farley, A, Jolly, K, Jowett, S, Maglakelidze, M, Maghlakelidze, T, Martins, S, Sitch, A, Stamenova, A, Stavrikj, K, Stelmach, R, Turner, A, Pan, Z, Pang, H, Zhang, J & Jordan, RE 2024, 'Engaging stakeholders to level up COPD care in LMICs: lessons learned from the "Breathe Well" programme in Brazil, China, Georgia, and North Macedonia', BMC Health Services Research, vol. 24, no. 1, 66. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-10525-4

Patel, K, Smith, DJ, Huntley, CC, Channa, S, Pye, A, Dickens, AP, Gale, N & Turner, A 2024, 'Exploring the causes of COPD misdiagnosis in primary care: A mixed methods study', PLOS One, vol. 19, no. 3, e0298432. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0298432

Waeijen-Smit, K, Crutsen, M, Keene, S, Miravitlles, M, Crisafulli, E, Torres, A, Mueller, C, Schuetz, P, Ringbaek, T, Fabbian, F, Mekov, E, Harries, TH, Lun, C-T, Ergan, B, Esteban, C, Galdakao, B, Lopez, JMQ, Lopez-Campos, JL, Chang, CL, Hancox, RJ, Shafuddin, E, Ellis, H, Janson, C, Ulrik, CS, Gudmundsson, G, Epstein, D, Dominguez, J, Lacoma, A, Osadnik, C, Alia, I, Spannella, F, Karakurt, Z, Mehravaran, H, Utens, C, de Kruif, MD, Ko, FWS, Trethewey, SP, Turner, AM, Bumbacea, D, Murphy, PB, Vermeersch, K, Zilberman-Itskovich, S, Steer, J, Echevarria, C, Bourke, SC, Lane, N, de Batlle, J, Sprooten, RTM, Russell, R, Faverio, P, Cross, JL, Prins, HJ, Spruit, MA, Simons, SO, Houben-Wilke, S & Franssen, FME 2024, 'Global mortality and readmission rates following COPD exacerbation-related hospitalization: a meta-analysis of 65945 individual patients', ERJ Open Research, vol. 10, no. 1, 00838-2023. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00838-2023

Review article

Aunger, J, Por Yip, K, Dosanjh, K, Scandrett, K, Ungureanu, B, Newnham, M & Turner, AM 2025, 'Interventions to improve adherence to clinical guidelines for the management and follow-up of pulmonary nodules: a systematic review', Chest. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2025.02.031

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