Dr Chris Barber

Chris is a Senior Lecturer in Respiratory Medicine within the Division of Genomic Medicine at the University of Sheffield, and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Health and Safety Laboratory. This facility is an agency of the Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom, based in Buxton. He is also an honorary consultant respiratory physician at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital Trust.

He qualified in Medicine from Nottingham University in 1993 and proceeded to train in respiratory and general medicine in Trent and the North West. In addition, he spent two years as a research fellow at HSL dedicated to research into occupational lung disease which led to an MD thesis related to cough in workers exposed to bakery dusts.

His main current areas of research interest, carried out at the health and safety laboratory in Buxton, include the national/international approach to the diagnosis/management of occupational lung disease, occupational lung disease relating to working with metal working fluid, and occupational lung cancer.

He has recently been involved in collaborative work with the South African government, a project leading to their first cases of hand-arm vibration syndrome being recognised and compensated.

He has specialist recognition in Respiratory and General Medicine from the GMC, and the AFOM, a postgraduate qualification in clinical and research aspects of occupational respiratory and non-respiratory disorders.

He is a core reporter to, and sits on the advisory committee for SWORD - a national surveillance scheme for occupational lung disease. He is also is a member of GORDS - a national group of experts in occupational lung disease.