Professor John Upham’s respiratory research over decades has revolutionised the treatment of asthma and profoundly changed how training in respiratory disease is now delivered to medical students in the modern age.
Reflecting on his 40-year clinical career and a legacy of change now benefiting the next generation, John says his career satisfaction is founded on the reality that when research, healthcare and teaching work together, the benefits to the community are so much greater.
“The sum of effort is greater than the individual parts and this is particularly true across research, clinical and teaching,” he said. “It is a continuous journey that Metro South Health embraces really well.”
John has spent most of his career at his ‘clinical home’ of Princess Alexandra Hospital from his registrar training in the 1980’s to 90’s, and a return from sojourns in Perth and overseas in 2007 to remain a fixture of the respiratory department. Adding conjoint appointments with the University of Queensland throughout, he was also appointed the MSH Executive Director of Research from 2019-2024.
It was at PAH that John’s 17 years of research into asthma was able to breathe and flourish.
“Looking back 15-20 years ago, we could see how cells from people with asthma over-reacted in the test tube but there wasn’t much we could do to address that in real people. What we see now is novel treatments for people with asthma using medications that directly target those abnormalities.”
He said it has been an exciting time for research with personalised medicine now able to get to the root cause of the asthma rather than the old way that involved blanket suppression of the whole immune system.
“My research has revolutionised the way we treat people with severe asthma. The result is that I have a whole lot of people who come to the clinic who can now get on with their lives, exercising, swimming, flourishing - without having to worry about coming into hospital all the time.”
The outcomes of this research have influenced the training course for medical students who are now exposed to real-life clinical problems much earlier in their course. Students now spend seven to eight weeks early in their training learning about lung disease.
“Students now have direct exposure to patients and patient experiences, learning about their diseases right from the get-go, including the personalised medicine approaches that address the cause, not just treat the symptom,” John said.
John credits his exposure across all three fields as the key to successful influence, change and innovation which underpins PAH and Metro South’s position as a destination of choice for clinical care, research and training in multiple specialist fields.
“Standing back and looking at the helicopter view of clinical training, the directions of research and how we apply this in the hospital enables us to see the breadth of change over time and reassure us that our collaborations are heading in the right direction.”
John retired from his role as the MSH Executive Director of Research in December 2024. Metro South Health welcomes Consultant Geriatrician and University of Queensland Associate Professor Salih Salih who will be acting in the role for the coming months.