Dr Simon Hart

Professor Simon Hart

Professor in Respiratory Medicine

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Health Sciences
  • Hull York Medical School

Summary

Graduated from Edinburgh University and trained in respiratory and general medicine in south-east Scotland. PhD in neutrophil and macrophage biology in the MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, followed by an MRC Clinician Scientist fellowship.

Lead clinician for the Hull interstitial lung disease and Sarcoidosis services since 2008.

Research interests include the biology and clinical care of pulmonary fibrosis, other interstitial lung diseases, and sarcoidosis.

Deputy TPD for integrated academic training (IAT), North & East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire

Former co-lead for academic foundation program at Hull York Medical School

Former chair, Hull York Medical School Academic Progress Committee

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

Defining an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome: International Consensus Statement

Short, E., Zemel, M., Yu, E., Chung, T. Y., Yeo, L. L., Witkowski, J. M., Willis, R., Whitney, S. L., Weinberger, B., Weight, C., Webster, A., Watkins, A. J., Wakefield, R., Walker, J., Vyazovskiy, V., Vukanovic, V., Vinciguerra, M., Verschoor, C., Vernooij, M. W., Venkat, R., …Bhandari, S. (online). Defining an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome: International Consensus Statement. GeroScience, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-024-01315-9

Mirtazapine to alleviate severe breathlessness in patients with COPD or ILD: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 mixed-method trial (BETTER-B)

Higginson, I. J., Brown, S. T., Oluyase, A. O., May, P., Maddocks, M., Costantini, M., Bajwah, S., Normand, C., Bausewein, C., Simon, S. T., Ryan, K., Currow, D. C., Johnson, M., Hart, S. P., Mather, H., Krajnik, M., Tanzi, S., Ghirotto, L., Bolton, C., Janowiak, P., …Brown, J. M. (2024). Mirtazapine to alleviate severe breathlessness in patients with COPD or ILD: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 mixed-method trial (BETTER-B). Lancet, 12(10), 763-774. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600%2824%2900187-5

Research priorities for progressive pulmonary fibrosis in the UK

Fabbri, L., Russell, A. M., Chaudhuri, N., Adams, W., Cowan, K., Conway, J., Dickinson, W., Gibbons, M., Hart, S., Jones, S., Lynch-Wilson, J., McMillan, T., Milward, S., Ward, M., Wright, L. E., & Jenkins, G. (2024). Research priorities for progressive pulmonary fibrosis in the UK. BMJ Open Respiratory Research, 11(1), Article e002368. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2024-002368

Objective measurement of cough in pulmonary fibrosis: a cohort study – ImpaCT

Kebbe, J., Hart, S. P., Kaner, R. J., Kulkarni, T., Wollin, L., Coeck, C., Vinisko, R., Patel, N., & Wijsenbeek, M. S. (2024). Objective measurement of cough in pulmonary fibrosis: a cohort study – ImpaCT. ERJ Open Research, 10(5), 00310-2024. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00310-2024

Can tumour antigens act as biomarkers for the early detection of non-small cell lung cancer?

Mohamed, E., Fletcher, D., Hart, S., & Guinn, B.-A. (2024). Can tumour antigens act as biomarkers for the early detection of non-small cell lung cancer?. Onco, 4(2), 87-100. https://doi.org/10.3390/onco4020008

Research interests

I work on rare lung diseases, defined as affecting fewer than 1 in 2,000 people. My group's research focus is on pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis. Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a progressive, incurable scarring disease of the lungs with a worse prognosis than most cancers. Sarcoidosis is a multi-organ inflammatory disease that can cause considerable loss of quality of life and economic hardship. For both conditions, current treatments are inadequate.

My group's research aims to ultimately improve outcomes for patients through:

- Translational science (using patient samples) to understand the biological processes that drive pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis.

- Multinational collaborative research to determine genetic risks factors and hence understand the cells and molecules that drive pulmonary fibrosis.

- Principal investigator for clinical trials of novel and repurposed treatments, both investigator-initiated clinical research and commercial trials, with the expert team in the respiratory clinical trials unit at Castle Hill hospital.

- Co-investigator on clinical research to improve patients’ symptoms and quality of life, focussing on breathlessness and cough, such as our award-winning collaboration between respiratory medicine and Wolfson palliative care at HYMS.

Lead investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Study to Evaluate Axatilimab in Participants With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Funder

Syndax Pharmaceuticals

Grant

£16,954.00

Started

1 February 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Phase 3 Study to Evaluate theEfficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of BMS-986278 in Participants with Idiopathic Pulmonary fibrosis

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£85,668.00

Started

1 November 2023

Status

Ongoing

Project

ALOFT-PPF

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£82,702.00

Started

1 June 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

BEACON-IPF

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£13,541.00

Started

1 June 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

BI1819479 IN IPF / 1462-0004

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£8,059.00

Started

1 August 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

1490-0004 - IPF Cohort

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£7,707.00

Started

1 August 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

A single arm, open-label exploratory clinical trial of azithromycin in pulmonary sarcoidosis

Funder

SarcoidosisUK

Grant

£59,992.00

Started

1 March 2019

Status

Complete

Project

Development and application of a multi-scale computational model of sarcoidosis to predict therapeutic approaches for non-self-resolving disease

Funder

Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research

Grant

£117,415.00

Started

30 June 2017

Status

Complete

Project

Sir Jules Thorn PhD Scholarship Programme 2016

Funder

Jules Thorn Charity

Grant

£83,999.00

Started

1 September 2016

Status

Complete

Project

Characterisation of monocyte CD200R in pulmonary sarcoidosis

Funder

BLF British Lung Foundation

Grant

£116,317.00

Started

1 March 2016

Status

Complete

Project

ISABELA1: A Phase 3, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebocontrolled multicenter study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two doses of GLPG1690 in addition to local standard of care for minimum 52 weeks in subjects with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£38,885.00

Started

1 August 2019

Status

Complete

Project

SCENIC: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Ranging, Efficacy and Safety Study with Inhaled RVT-1601 for the Treatment of Persistent Cough in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£17,918.00

Started

1 May 2019

Status

Complete

Project

ATLAS: A Randomized Open-Label, Phase 1b Study of the Safety of Pirfenidone Solution for Inhalation (AP01) in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£5,937.00

Started

1 June 2019

Status

Complete

Project

TR12: A Phase 2, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Two-Treatment, Two-Period Crossover Efficacy and Safety Study in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis with Nalbuphine ER Tablets for the Treatment of Cough

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£20,357.00

Started

1 October 2019

Status

Complete

Project

An exploratory sub-study to protocol GLPG1690-CL-303 to assess lung function in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, using hyperpolarized xenon magnetic resonance imaging

Funder

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Grant

£3,228.00

Started

1 November 2019

Status

Complete

Project

COASPIRE: A randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled study of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA-FFA) gastro-resistant capsules to treat hospitalised subjects with confirmed SARS-CoV-2

Funder

SLA Pharma (UK) Ltd

Grant

£2,489.00

Started

1 November 2021

Status

Complete

Project

A cell model for discovering biomarkers and druggable targets for pulmonary fibrosis

Funder

BLF British Lung Foundation

Grant

£79,958.00

Started

1 May 2023

Status

Complete

Project

A multi-centre, real-world exploratory cohort study to evaluate cough frequency, severity, and impact on quality of life in patients with non-idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis interstitial lung disease.

Funder

Boehringer Ingelheim Limited

Grant

£2,044.00

Started

1 December 2022

Status

Complete

Co-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

BREATHE: Breathlessness RElief AT HomE

Funder

NIHR National Institute for Health Research

Grant

£232,098.00

Started

1 April 2019

Status

Complete

Project

MABEL: A Parallel Group, Double-blind, Randomised Placebo-controlled Trial Comparing The Efficacy And Cost effectiveness

Funder

NIHR National Institute for Health Research

Grant

£731,726.00

Started

1 March 2019

Status

Complete

Project

Development and publication of the booklet for the pulmonary fibrosis (disease with a degree of similarity to coronavirus disease).

Funder

Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust

Grant

£322.00

Started

1 November 2020

Status

Complete

Project

Updating (Reviewing and Printing) the Patient's Guide to Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Funder

Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust

Grant

£401.00

Started

1 November 2022

Status

Complete

Project

Study of the lung endothelium in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Funder

University of Hull

Grant

£35,465.00

Started

1 September 2020

Status

Complete

Project

HEIF: Simplifying patient information for clinical trials

Funder

University of Hull

Grant

£22,200.00

Started

1 August 2023

Status

Complete

Project

Fully humanised model of ageing endothelium to study ageing-associated lung diseases:

Funder

Animal Free Research UK

Grant

£24,606.00

Started

1 April 2024

Status

Complete

Project

BETTER-B: BETter TreatmEnts for Refractory Breathlessness

Funder

EC European Commission

Grant

£56,859.00

Started

1 January 2019

Status

Complete

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