Francis Gilchrist

Biography

Dr Francis Gilchrist is a Reader and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Keele University / University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust. He qualified from University of Manchester with Honours in 2002 and undertook his Paediatric Respiratory Training in the West Midlands. He then worked as a Clinical Fellow at the Manchester Adult CF Centre and was awarded his PhD by Keele University in 2014.

His current roles include Paediatric Director of the North West Midlands Cystic Fibrosis Centre, Academic Editor for Thorax, Deputy Chair of the West Midlands NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) committee and Guideline Officer for the British Paediatric Respiratory Society.

The diagnosis and treatment of lower respiratory infections in children protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) and cystic fibrosis are his main research interests. Dr Gilchrist has been Chief and Principal Investigator for 17 trials and his research grants total > £450k. He has published one book, three book chapters, two invited editorials, 46 original papers, seven systematic reviews, eight review articles, three case series, 12 case reports and four correspondence articles. He has >800 citations and has a H-index of 18. He has supervised seven postgraduate students for MPhil and PhD awards.

Research and scholarship

Dr Gilchrist has been Principal Investigator for 15 clinical trials and Chief Investigator (CI) for two. His CI trials are CLASSIC PBB (Comparison of Lower Airway Sampling Strategies in Children with Protracted Bacterial Bronchitis) which is comparing the microbiology yield of cough swabs and induced sputum samples with that of bronchoalveolar lavage in children with PBB and ALPINE2 which was an international, multicentre, clinical trial of an investigational medicinal products that recruited 149 children from 55 sites in 12 countries.

Teaching

Dr Gilchrist has taught teach nationally on Advanced Paediatric Life Support courses, the MRCPCH Theory and Science Exam Preparation Course and the Northern Paediatric Respiratory Forum Trainee Day. He also teaches Keele undergraduate medical students including the Paediatric Respiratory Lecture and interactive video session. He has been awarded a certificate for Excellence in Clinical Teaching by Keele University nominated by students.

Further information

Dr Fran Gilchrist's Orcid social media account can be found at

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1947-7621

Supervision

Has been academic supervisor for PhD, MPhil, ACF and MMedSci students.

Collaborations and grants awards

Chief Investigator

• North Staffordshire Medical Institute Grant £9,978

Lung Microbiome in PBB, December 2021

• NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Grant (NIHR 202272) £259,446

CLASSIC PBB. April 2021

• UHNM Guy Hilton Research Grant (Project R5240A988) £29,875

HCN analysis of stored breath samples (PhD) - September 2010

• Keele University ACORN Fund £14,910

PhD Fees and Stipend, April 2010

Lead Supervisor for Trainee Fellowships

• Wolfson Foundation RCP Intercalation Award £5,000

Cough Plate vs Cough Swabs - September 2018

Co-applicant

• Trudell Medical Unrestricted Research Grant 2018 £59,200

OUTER SPACERS Study - September 2018

• North Staffordshire Medical Institute Grant £29,537

August 2018

• NIHR RfPB Grant (PB-PG-0909-20070) £237,063

SPACE Study (PhD) – August 2010