Manchester professor ranked No. 1 globally for COPD research

Manchester respiratory researcher Professor Dave Singh has been ranked No. 1 globally for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) research and No. 9 globally for lung (pulmonology) research, according to the academic ranking platform Scholar GPS. 

A Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Respiratory Medicine at The University of Manchester, Professor Dave Singh is also the Programme Lead for COPD within the Respiratory Medicine Theme of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC): Manchester.

This is a significant achievement that reflects Professor Singh’s international leadership in respiratory research.  

COPD, a common lung condition which causes breathing difficulties, is one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide. Ranking first globally in this field highlights the scale, quality and impact of Professor Singh’s research contribution.  

Scholar GPS rankings benchmark researchers against their international peers using measures such as publication output, citation impact and overall research productivity. 

Professor Dave Singh, who is also Medical Director of the Medicines Evaluation Unit, an IQVIA business, and Honorary Respiratory Consultant at Wythenshawe Hospital, part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Reaching the top global ranking in COPD research and within the top 10 for lung research is a great honour. This achievement reflects not just my work, but the dedication of my research team and colleagues in Manchester and our shared commitment to improving the lives of patients living with respiratory diseases.

“While metrics like Scholar GPS are wonderful acknowledgments, our ultimate goal remains translating these scientific insights into meaningful clinical advancements that make a real difference to patients across the UK and worldwide.” 

Stephen Dickson, Chief Executive of Wythenshawe, Trafford, Withington and Altrincham Hospitals at MFT, said: “Congratulations to Professor Singh on this recognition for his excellent contribution to COPD and lung research. It demonstrates the global impact of research being undertaken at Wythenshawe Hospital, which is improving outcomes for people living with respiratory disease in Manchester and beyond.” 

In 2020 Professor Singh was awarded the European Respiratory Society Gold Medal for outstanding contribution to COPD and in 2025 he was named one of the world’s most influential researchers by Clarivate. 

Through the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Manchester, Professor Singh has contributed significant research on COPD and other respiratory diseases.

This includes leading a long-standing strategic partnership with Verona Pharmaceuticals (now part of MSD), spanning multiple early and late phase studies and directly contributing to the approval of Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) in June 2024. This treatment reduces breathlessness in COPD patients by a novel mechanism – an innovation which brought the first new COPD treatment for breathlessness in more than 20 years. 

Over the past decade, Professor Singh has authored multiple papers showing that COPD patients have different types of inflammation in the lungs, with some patients having a particular pattern called type-2 inflammation. He has worked on clinical trials to identify treatments that successfully target type-2 inflammation; this work has shown how type–2 inflammation can be identified in the blood. This means clinicians can now use a simple blood test to find out if a patient’s COPD is driven by this type of inflammation and match them to the right targeted treatment.  

Professor Singh led early phase trials showing the ability of a novel treatment, tozorakimab, to prevent worsening of COPD symptoms. He recently co-authored landmark late phase studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showing the benefits of this treatment across a broad population of COPD patients with different types of inflammation.       

In 2025, Professor Singh also co-authored a high-profile paper in Nature Reviews which outlined the opportunities for new COPD therapies, highlighting the Manchester COPD research team as leaders in the field. 

Find out more about how research led by Professor Dave Singh is driving progress in COPD treatment.