Leadership
The COPDforum leadership is comprised of renowned researchers/clinicians in COPD, who have contributed significantly
to the developments in this field. This global group represents some of the world's thought leaders in this area,
who are prominent in respiratory publications, international and local societies and research initiatives. Click on the
links below to learn more about the COPDforum leadership.
Leadership
Peter Frith
MB, BS, FRACP, FCCP, Professor of Respiratory Medicine
Australia
COPDforum has been several years in development and now offers a wonderfully comprehensive
... Read AllCOPDforum has been several years in development and now offers a wonderfully comprehensive educational resource. I believe the website will provide professionals with greater insights into the causes and impacts of COPD, backed by knowledge resources contributed to by an extraordinarily well-credentialed faculty, presented easily-understood formats. It’s as comprehensive a package as exists anywhere, and all respiratory health professionals will gain from having access
Place of work
Flinders University of South Australia and Repatriation General
Hospital.
Experience
Peter Frith is a Senior Respiratory Physician with clinical and
research interests in chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) and
other chronic lung diseases, pulmonary rehabilitation, the
integrated care of chronic conditions, diagnosis and management
guidelines for COPD and pulmonary rehabilitation, and mental health
effects and management in COPD. His early research career, in
Hamilton, Canada, related to the validation of challenge tests for
asthma. More recently, his research has been collaborative,
including several current National Health and Medical Research
Council Projects relating to home oxygen therapy and drug therapies
for dyspnoea. He has been Lead Investigator on several studies
evaluating diagnostic screening tools for COPD.
Professor Frith is national Chairman of the Australian Lung
Foundation's COPD Program and is Australia's representative on the
International COPD Coalition and the Global Education Council for
Chronic Respiratory Disease. He also sits on the COPD Advisory
Committees of several pharmaceutical companies and is an adviser to
government and other organizations on chronic respiratory
disease.
Professor Frith has recently completed a second edition of the
comprehensive evidence-based Manual for Pulmonary Rehabilitation,
and has taken a lead role in the development of the Australian and
New Zealand COPD Management Guidelines, COPD-X. He has authored
over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, the most recent of
which are listed below.
Recent publications
Williams M, Cafarella P, Olds T, Petkov J, Frith
P. The language of breathlessness differentiates between
patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and age-matched
adults. Chest 2008 May 19. [Epub ahead of print]
Frith PA, Cafarella PA, Duffy JM. Chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major personal and public
health burden in Australia. Aust N Z J Public Health
2008;32(2):139-41.
Currow DC, Plummer J, Frith P, Abernethy AP.
Can we predict which patients with refractory dyspnea will respond
to opioids? J Palliat Med 2007;10(5):1031-6.
Wilson DH, Tucker G, Frith P, Appleton S,
Ruffin RE, Adams RJ. Trends in hospital admissions and mortality
from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Australia,
1993-2003. Med J Aust 2007;186(8):408-11.
Harris M, Smith BJ, Veale A, Esterman A, Frith
PA, Selim P. Providing patients with reviews of evidence
about COPD treatments: a controlled trial of outcomes. Chron Respir
Dis 2006;3(3):133-40.
Abramson MJ, Crockett AJ, Frith PA, McDonald
CF. COPDX: an update of guidelines for the management of chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease with a review of recent evidence. Med
J Aust 2006;184(7):342-5.
Smith BJ, Cheok F, Heard AR, Esterman AJ, Southcott AM, Antic R,
Frith PA, Hender K, Ruffin RE. Impact on
readmission rates and mortality of a chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease inpatient management guideline. Chron Respir Dis
2004;1(1):17-28.
Smith BJ, Dalziel K, McElroy HJ, Ruffin RE, Frith
PA, McCaul KA, Cheok F. Barriers to success for an
evidence-based guideline for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chron Respir Dis 2005;2(3):121-31.
Abernethy AP, Currow DC, Frith P, Fazekas B.
Prescribing palliative oxygen: a clinician survey of expected
benefit and patterns of use. Palliat Med 2005;19(2):168-70.
Eckert DJ, Catcheside PG, Smith JH, Frith PA,
McEvoy RD. Hypoxia suppresses symptom perception in asthma. Am J
Respir Crit Care Med 2004;169(11):1224-30.
Abernethy AP, Currow DC, Frith P, Fazekas BS,
McHugh A, Bui C. Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled
crossover tri