Simon Johnson

Professor Simon Johnson is Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Head of the Division of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Nottingham's Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences. He serves as Respiratory Theme Co-lead at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, where he directs research on respiratory diseases with a particular focus on rare lung conditions.

His primary research interests include metalloproteinases in lung remodelling, molecular pathology and translational studies in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), COPD, asthma and interstitial lung disease. Johnson's work spans both clinical and laboratory investigations, with special emphasis on understanding airway remodelling mechanisms in asthma and the pathogenesis of LAM, a rare lung disease affecting women that involves infiltration of smooth muscle-type cells in the lungs and lymphatics.

Johnson leads the UK LAM database and is involved in numerous clinical studies and trials. His research employs primary airway cell culture, co-cultures, protein expression analysis, functional activity assays, real-time PCR, and proteomics. He has contributed significantly to clinical practice guidelines for LAM diagnosis and management as a member of the LAM Foundation scientific board and the Tuberous Sclerosis Association specialist advisory panel.

• Respiratory Theme Lead, Nottingham NIHR Biomedical Research Centre
• Director, National Centre for Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
• Co-director, Rare Cystic Lung Disease Collaborative Network
• Member, LAM Foundation scientific board
• Member, Tuberous Sclerosis Association specialist advisory panel

Professor Johnson's laboratory research projects on LAM include mechanisms of lung destruction in LAM, prognostic biomarkers, and the generation of model systems to study LAM. His work on matrix metalloproteinases has been particularly influential in understanding proteolytic enzyme activity in respiratory diseases. He collaborates with researchers internationally and has contributed to numerous multicenter studies on rare lung diseases.