Professor Charlotte Summers

Prof Charlotte Summers

Professor of Intensive Care Medicine

Email: cs493@cam.ac.uk

EA: Sarah Chantler - sc282@cam.ac.uk

Twitter: @charlot_summers

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/prof-charlotte-summers

Biography

Charlotte graduated in both Biomedical Sciences and Medicine from the University of Southampton, and later undertook a PhD at the University of Cambridge, investigating the role of inflammation on the pulmonary transit kinetics of human neutrophils, alongside specialist clinical training in Respiratory (East of England) and Intensive Care Medicine (London).  She was subsequently appointed as the UK’s first NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Intensive Care Medicine and be awarded a Fulbright All-disciplines Scholar Award and a Wellcome Trust Fellowship for Postdoctoral Clinician Scientists.  Charlotte joined the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in 2015 from University of California, San Francisco.

Research Approach:

Charlotte’s aim is to improve clinical outcomes from acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure (AHRF), which is most commonly caused by pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of aberrant lung, will allow us to develop and test therapies to prevent and treat the causes of AHRF. Our group works across the translational pathway, from understanding mechanisms in human cell systems, to experimental medicine studies in humans, to testing therapies in large multicentre clinical trials. We also collaborate with several research networks to contribute to global understanding of diseases such as influenza and COVID-19 (e.g., ISARIC, GenoMICC)

Current projects:

• Elucidating the host defence mechanisms via which the pulmonary microcirculation prevents innate immune cell-mediated damage, and developing understanding of how those mechanisms fail in acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure.
• Investigating the influence of the pulmonary microenvironment on neutrophil phenotype and function.
• Determining the cellular mechanisms of acute pulmonary inflammation to help identify novel targets for therapeutic intervention.
• Chief Investigator of HEAL-COVID, a phase III platform clinical trial " seeking to identify therapies to improve the longer term outcomes of people hospitalised with COVID-19.
• Observational studies in high, middle and low income areas to understand the impact of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure on patients and healthcare systems.

Selected Publications

1. A randomised trial of anti-GM-CSF otilimab in severe COVID-19 pneumonia (OSCAR).  Patel J, Bass D, Beishuizen A, Bocca Ruiz X, Boughanmi H, Cahn A, Colombo H, Criner GJ, Davy K, de-Miguel-Díez J, Doreski PA, Fernandes S, François B, Gupta A, Hanrott K, Hatlen T, Inman D, Isaacs JD, Jarvis E, Kostina N, Kropotina T, Lacherade JC, Lakshminarayanan D, Martinez-Ayala P, McEvoy C, Meziani F, Monchi M, Mukherjee S, Muñoz-Bermúdez R, Neisen J, O'Shea C, Plantefeve G, Schifano L, Schwab LE, Shahid Z, Shirano M, Smith JE, Sprinz E, Summers C, Terzi N, Tidswell MA, Trefilova Y, Williamson R, Wyncoll D, Layton M.Eur Respir J. 2023 Feb 2;61(2):2101870. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01870-2021. Print 2023 Feb.PMID: 36229048
2. Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19. Kousathanas A, Pairo-Castineira E, Rawlik K, Stuckey A, Odhams CA, Walker S, Russell CD, Malinauskas T, Wu Y, Millar J, Shen X, Elliott KS, Griffiths F, Oosthuyzen W, Morrice K, Keating S, Wang B, Rhodes D, Klaric L, Zechner M, Parkinson N, Siddiq A, Goddard P, Donovan S, Maslove D, Nichol A, Semple MG, Zainy T, Maleady-Crowe F, Todd L, Salehi S, Knight J, Elgar G, Chan G, Arumugam P, Patch C, Rendon A, Bentley D, Kingsley C, Kosmicki JA, Horowitz JE, Baras A, Abecasis GR, Ferreira MAR, Justice A, Mirshahi T, Oetjens M, Rader DJ, Ritchie MD, Verma A, Fowler TA, Shankar-Hari M, Summers C, Hinds C, Horby P, Ling L, McAuley D, Montgomery H, Openshaw PJM, Elliott P, Walsh T, Tenesa A; GenOMICC investigators; 23andMe investigators; COVID-19 Human Genetics Initiative; Fawkes A, Murphy L, Rowan K, Ponting CP, Vitart V, Wilson JF, Yang J, Bretherick AD, Scott RH, Hendry SC, Moutsianas L, Law A, Caulfield MJ, Baillie JK. Nature. 2022 Jul;607(7917):97-103. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04576-6. Epub 2022 Mar 7.PMID: 35255492 
3. Acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure in a low-income country: a prospective observational study of hospital prevalence and mortality. Kwizera A, Nakibuuka J, Nakiyingi L, Sendagire C, Tumukunde J, Katabira C, Ssenyonga R, Kiwanuka N, Kateete DP, Joloba M, Kabatoro D, Atwine D, Summers C. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2020 Nov;7(1):e000719. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2020-000719. PMID: 33148779 
4. Pulmonary retention of primed neutrophils: a novel protective host response, which is impaired in the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Summers C, Singh NR, White JF, Mackenzie IM, Johnston A, Solanki C, Balan KK, Peters AM, Chilvers ER. Thorax. 2014 Jul;69(7):623-9. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-204742. Epub 2014 Apr 4. PMID: 24706039 
5. Novel anti-tumour necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNFR1) domain antibody prevents pulmonary inflammation in experimental acute lung injury. Proudfoot A, Bayliffe A, O'Kane CM, Wright T, Serone A, Bareille PJ, Brown V, Hamid UI, Chen Y, Wilson R, Cordy J, Morley P, de Wildt R, Elborn S, Hind M, Chilvers ER, Griffiths M, Summers C, McAuley DF. Thorax. 2018 Aug;73(8):723-730. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2017-210305. Epub 2018 Jan 29. PMID: 29382797

Research collaborators/links

HEAL-COVID: www.heal-covid.net

ISARIC 4C: https://isaric4c.net

GenOMICC: https://genomicc.org

Prof Peter Openshaw: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/p.openshaw

Prof Rachel Chambers: https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=RCCHA90

Prof Iain McInnes: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/infectionimmunity/staff/iainmcinnes/

Prof Jonathan Cavanaugh: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/infectionimmunity/staff/jonathancavanagh/