My interests in clinical health focus on the respiratory tract and identifying drug leads from natural products. Lung cancer (LC) is the most prevalent cancer in the world with 1.3 million deaths recorded each year. Only 15% of patients live for five or more years after initial diagnosis, primarily due to late detection. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by an increase in mucus production due to hyperplasia of goblet cells, and hypertrophy of mucus glands COPD is a leading cause of death, arising from acute exacerbations (sudden worsening of symptoms), which may be triggered by infection or environmental pollutants. My research in this area is focusing on the detection of metabolite biomarkers for LC and COPD and investigating possible links with the lung microbiome. I employ cutting edge genomic and postgenomic approaches but will use classical physiological, genetic, biochemical, or microbiological approaches, as appropriate. I have numerous national and international collaborations which are supported by funding from the BBSRC, the EU, NSF (USA), DEFRA, the Royal Society, the Welsh Assembly, and AU Research Fund.