Professor Richard Beasley
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0337-406XDirector, Asthma Programme Lead, Oxygen Programme co-Lead
MBChB, MD, DSc
Research programme(s) of involvement: Asthma; Oxygen; Clinical Management.
Professional Positions and Memberships: Consultant Physician, Capital & Coast District Health Board; Visiting Professor, University of Southampton; Professor of Medicine, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington; Adjunct Professor, University of Otago; Deputy Chair of the Health Research Council of New Zealand (2010 – 2016); Chair of the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand adolescent and adult asthma guidelines (2015-Present); University College of Dublin CRC Governance Board (2021-current), Member Board of Directors GOLD (Global Obstructive Lung Disease) (GOLD) (2019-current) New Zealand Representative, The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (2017-19); Royal Society of New Zealand’s representative, Australian Council of Learned Academies project on precision medicine (2016); Member, Health Research Council of New Zealand Ethics Committee (2009-2016); Member, Asthma Australia National Research Council (2011-2016); Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Asthma & Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand (2016-present); Member, Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand Oxygen Guidelines Group, (2013-present); Member, Asthma Australia National Research Council (2011-2016); Member, British Thoracic Society Emergency Oxygen Guideline Development Group (2011, 2017); Chair, Education Committee, Asia Pacific Society of Respirology (2006-2009); Member, Steering Committee, International Study of Asthma & Allergies in Childhood (1993-2013); Member, GINA (Global Initiative on Asthma) Assembly (2005-current); Member, GINA Advisory Committee (1997-2005); Member, Research Council, World Allergy Organization (2002-2006); Convenor, NZ Asbestos Disease Register (1991-92); Member, Education Committee, United Kingdom Asthma Task Force (1992-93); Expert Panel, Food & Drug Administration, USA, (1991); Occupational Safety & Health Steering Committee for the NZ Occupational Disease Register, (1990-92); Australian NIH-MRC Asthma Mortality Steering Committee, (1989).
Research interests: Asthma, Clinical Management, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Epidemiology, Oxygen, Respiratory Medicine.
About
Richard Beasley, renown academic physician and researcher, is the founder and director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ).
Arriving at Wellington Hospital as a trainee intern in 1979, Richard worked as a Resident Medical Officer (RMO) before travelling to the United Kingdom to undertake an MD (Medical Doctorate) in the field of asthma at Southampton University. Richard returned to Aotearoa New Zealand to take up a Senior Lecturer and Internal Medicine Physician position at Wellington Hospital / University of Otago. Richard formed the Wellington Asthma Research Group in 1981, which identified the medication fenoterol as the cause of an epidemic of asthma deaths in New Zealand. This mortality epidemic ended within six months of the withdrawal of fenoterol.
Richard was Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine at the Otago University Wellington School of Medicine from 1993 to 2001, during which time the Department greatly expanded the depth and breadth of its undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes. In 2001, Richard established the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, and over two decades has developed it into New Zealand’s leading independent medical research organisation. During this period he continued to work as an internal medicine physician at Wellington and Kenepuru Hospitals, retiring from clinical duties in 2021. He maintains close academic links through his professorial appointments at the University of Southampton, UK, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Otago. Having authored over 700 publications, Richard holds a Scopus H-index of 108.