Research
Professor Paul Jones is professor of respiratory medicine at St George’s.
For the last 25 years Professor Jones’s work has involved health status measurement in chronic lung disease, largely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The first questionnaire that he developed, the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (also known as the SGRQ and first published in 1992), has become the reference measure of its kind, worldwide. It is recommended by the European Medicines Agency as an outcome measure for trials in COPD and is the sole patient-reported outcome measure accepted by the United States Food and Drug Administration for trials of new drugs for COPD.
More recently, Professor Jones led the development of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) using methodology, applied for the first time in pulmonary medicine, which allows development of small efficient questionnaires for use in routine clinical practice. First published in 2009, it has been very quickly and widely adopted and is now built into the WHO/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Global Initiative for COPD (GOLD) guidelines as a key basic assessment of this disease. He also led the development of two other important new instruments: the Dyspnea-12, a unique measure of breathless and the EXACT, the first scientifically developed diary card for COPD exacerbations.
Professor Jones’s current work concerns an exploration of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in COPD patients.
Professor Jones provides consulting services on issues concerning health status and patient-reported outcomes to all major pharmaceutical companies with an interest in COPD.
Biography
Professor Jones was previously medical director at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and joint research and development director across both the Trust and St George's, University of London.
Professor Jones graduated in physiology and biochemistry in 1968 (University of Southampton) before gaining a distinction in medicine in 1973 (University of London). He obtained his PhD in the Summation of Lung Volume Information with Particular Reference to the Origin of Breathlessness from University of London in 1980 and became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1992.
He was awarded a Medical Research Council travelling fellowship from 1979 to 1980 before being appointed lecturer in medicine at Middlesex Hospital School in 1980. From 1982 to 1985 Professor Jones was the Wellcome Trust senior research fellow in clinical science. In 1985 he joined St George’s as clinical senior lecturer, became reader in medicine (1992) and promoted to chair as professor of respiratory medicine in 1996.
Academic roles
2006 - present. Editorial board: Chest
2006 - 2010 NHS Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) National Service Framework workgroup member.
2007 - Member: Science committee of National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute /World Health Organisation Global Initiative for COPD (GOLD).
2007 - 2011 Member of Human Tissue Authority Clinical Trials Board.
2011 - Chair, London (S) Comprehensive Local Research Network Board.
2011- Associate editor: Journal of COPD.
2014 - Co-editor of Clinical Respiratory Journal.
Publications
Dodd JW, Charlton RA, van den Broek MD, Jones PW. Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients Hospitalized with Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Chest. 2013; 144(1):119–127
Dodd JW, Chung AW, van den Broek MD, Barrick TR, Charlton RA, Jones PW. Brain structure and function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a multimodal cranial magnetic resonance imaging study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2012 August 8;186(3):240-5.
Jones PW, Chen W-H, Wilcox TK, Sethi S, Leidy NK. Characterizing and Quantifying the Symptomatic Features of COPD Exacerbations. Chest. 2011. 2011;139(6):1388-94.
Jones PW, Brusselle G, Dal Negro RW, Ferrer M, Kardos P, Levy ML, et al. Properties of the COPD assessment test in a cross-sectional European study. Eur Respir J. 2011 July 1, 2011;38(1):29-35.
Yorke J, Moosavi SH, Shuldham C, Jones PW. Quantification of dyspnoea using descriptors: development and initial testing of the Dyspnoea-12. Thorax. 2010 Jan;65(1):21-6.
Jones PW, Harding G, Berry P, Wiklund I, Chen WH, Kline Leidy N. Development and first validation of the COPD Assessment Test. Eur Respir J. 2009;34(3):648-54.
Key publications
Jones PW, Quirk FH, Baveystock CM, Littlejohns P. A self-complete measure of health status for chronic airflow limitation: The St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire. Am Rev Respir Dis 1992;145:1321-1327
Spencer S, Jones PW. Time course of recovery of health status following an infective exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Thorax 2003;58:589-593.
Calverley PMA, Anderson JA, Celli B, Ferguson GT, Jenkins C, Jones PW, et al. Salmeterol and fluticasone proprionate and survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. NEJM 2007;356:775-789
Research group
Dr James Dodd PhD (awarded 2012): Cognitive function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Ms Catherine Spilling PhD student 2014: Brain changes in COPD
Collaborations
Internal
Dr Tom Barrick (St George’s, University of London)
Professor Emma Baker (St George’s, University of London
External
Dr James Dodd (University of Bristol)
Dr Nancy Klein Leidy (Evidera, Bethesda, USA)
Funding
2011
GlaxoSmithKline : Novel method of estimating minimum clinically important difference in health status questionnaires. £85k (Principal Investigator)
2012
Medical Research Council: Clinical trial of metformin in COPD exacerbations. £283k (Co-applicant)
2013
National Institute for Health Research, Research for Patient Benefit programme: Feasibility of high intensity interval training in pulmonary rehabilitation programme for patients with interstitial lung disease. £210k (Principal Investigator)
Teaching
Dr James Dodd PhD (awarded 2012), cognitive function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Ms Catherine Spilling PhD student 2014 - Brain changes in COPD
