Qualifications
- BA (University of Oxford)
- PhD / DPhil (Hull York Medical School)
Summary
I am a Research Fellow in the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre and am currently involved in a number of NIHR funded research projects relating to chronic breathlessness including Breathe Well and FanFIRST.
I was the principal investigator for an NIHR funded feasibility trial of a breathlessness crisis management intervention for paramedics when called out to patients with chronic breathlessness (BREATHE), which was based on my PhD research on the experience of chronic breathlessness and presentation to the emergency department. I was also co-investigator on an interview study called Understanding people’s experiences of exacerbations which was funded by AstraZeneca.
In 2019 I worked with local people and artists Anna Bean and Rob Mackay to develop a multimedia exhibition to show what it is like living with breathlessness, entitled Bringing Breathlessness into View. This project received funding from Hull City of Culture 2017, the Wellcome Trust and the University of Hull. This exhibition has been taken to a variety of community and health centres and also the Freedom Festival 2023 to raise awareness of this difficult symptom and to let people know what can be done to live well with it. For more information please see our website: https://www.hyms.ac.uk/bringing-breathlessness-into-view
I have a degree in Experimental Psychology and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, both from the University of Oxford. Prior to training as a researcher, I gained 15 years of secondary school teaching experience. I was awarded a PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Hull on chronic breathlessness and presentation to the emergency department in 2017. I am very interested in public engagement and recently took part in the British Science Festival 2018.
Journal Article
ERS guideline recommendation on airflow for breathlessness: the pitfalls of applying GRADE evidence ratings to complex non-pharmacological interventions
Luckett, T., Swan, F., Clark, J., Roberts, M., Pearson, M., Hutchinson, A., Currow, D., Kochovska, S., Crooks, M., Smith, T., & Johnson, M. (2025). ERS guideline recommendation on airflow for breathlessness: the pitfalls of applying GRADE evidence ratings to complex non-pharmacological interventions. European respiratory journal, 65(2), Article 2402244. https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02244-2024
"I'm living in a 'no' world now…"- A qualitative study of the widespread impact of living with chronic breathlessness, and experiences of identification and assessment of this symptom in an older, frail community-based population
Elliott-Button, H., Johnson, M. J., Hutchinson, A., Currow, D. C., & Clark, J. (2025). "I'm living in a 'no' world now…"- A qualitative study of the widespread impact of living with chronic breathlessness, and experiences of identification and assessment of this symptom in an older, frail community-based population. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 35(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00409-3
Exploring COPD patients' and carers' experiences, understandings and expectations of exacerbations: an interview study
Hutchinson, A., Russell, R., Cummings, H., Usmani, O., MacFadyen, S., Cohen, J., Morris, T., Muellerova, H., Xu, Y., Hellens, G., Roy, K., & Crooks, M. G. (2025). Exploring COPD patients’ and carers’ experiences, understandings and expectations of exacerbations: an interview study. BJGP Open, https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0026
Breathlessness without borders: a call to action for global breathlessness research
Clark, J. D., Binnie, K., Bond, M., Crooks, M., Currow, D. C., Curry, J., Elsey, H., Habib, M., Hutchinson, A., Soyiri, I., Johnson, M. J., Nair, S., Rao, S., Siqueira-Filha, N., Spathis, A., & Williams, S. (2024). Breathlessness without borders: a call to action for global breathlessness research. NPJ Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, 34(1), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-024-00384-9
The cost of providing care by family and friends (informal care) in the last year of life: A population observational study
Johnson, M. J., Currow, D. C., Chynoweth, J., Weatherly, H., Keser, G., Hutchinson, A., Jones, A., Dunn, L., & Allgar, V. (2024). The cost of providing care by family and friends (informal care) in the last year of life: A population observational study. Palliative medicine, https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163241259649
Research interests
My PhD investigated the role of chronic refractory breathlessness in emergency department presentations. This research involved a mixed methods approach including a patient survey and case note review at the Hull Royal Infirmary, followed by in-depth interviews exploring how breathlessness had triggered a presentation at the emergency department. These research findings are set in the context of a systematic review of the existing qualitative literature on the experience of breathlessness.
This research led to the development of the BREATHE NIHR funded feasibility trial in collaboration with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and the Universities of York and Sheffield.
I was a co-investigator on the ExacQual study, which explored patients’ and their carers’ experiences, expectations and understanding of COPD exacerbations before and after the emergence of COVID-19.
Additionally, I am interested in cancer-associated thrombosis and have published a qualitative sub-study of the select-d trial on the patient and carer experience of oral and injected anticoagulants and also a systematic review of the experiences of cancer patients living with venous thromboembolism.
Lead investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
BREEZE 2: A randomised controlled trial of a complex intervention to manage breathlessness in pulmonary fibrosis
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£397,551.00
Started
1 April 2024
Status
Ongoing
Project
Bringing breathlessness into view
Funder
Hull UK City of Culture 2017
Grant
£2,000.00
Started
1 May 2017
Status
Complete
Project
BREATHE: Breathlessness RElief AT HomE
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£232,098.00
Started
1 April 2019
Status
Complete
Project
Real-world Implementation and Evaluation of an AI decision support software (ArtiQ.Spiro) into primary care respiratory diagnostic pathways
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£14,479.00
Started
1 November 2022
Status
Complete
Co-investigator
Project
Funder
Grant
Started
Status
Project
Living well with chronic breathlessness: Improving the sustainable use of supported self-management strategies
Funder
NIHR National Institute for Health Research
Grant
£168,478.00
Started
1 March 2023
Status
Complete