Prof. Leif Bjermer
Senior Professor of Allergy and Asthma research, Inst. for Clinical science, Lund university, Senior Physician, Lung and Allergy section, Heart and Lung division, Skane University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. Research advisor, St Olav University Hospital /NTNU Trondheim, Norway.
Education
Medical school, Umeå University 1977-1986
Specialist in Lung Medicine 1987 and in Allergology 2000
Clinical carrier
Prof Bjermer specialized in Pulmonary medicine in Umeå, 1987. He was able to combine clinical practice and developed a clinical translational activity focus on patients with interstitial lung disorders. In 2002 he moved to Trondheim in Norway and became head of the clinical department Combined with professorship at the university. He has achieved four major clinical goals during my time in Trondeim 1) Strong integration between clinical activity and clinical research with research facilities in close connection with the clinical department, 2) Establishing a fully equipped modern respiratory physiology lab all integrated in the same database, 3) modernizing local x-ray department with computerized pictures and 4) Establishing an intermediate intensive care for observation and ventilatory support.
Since 2002 he has been located in Lund and works as a senior physician at the allergology unit. Between 2004-10 he was involved in restructuring the clinical department to its present form with thematic sections.
Scientific carrier
Time in Umeå was dedicated to studies on interstitial lung disorders and development of fibrosis, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) studies. The importance of constitutive cells, especially mast cells has since then been a theme in inflammatory research also including other inflammatory airway disorders. The studies have mostly been translational including basic science, animal experimental research combined with invasive and non-invasive clinical experimental research.
From 1992 to 2002, research focus shifted from ILD to obstructive lung disorders with asthma development, especially in elite cross-country skiers, as a major interest, epidemiology, provocation tests and bronchoscopy. During the same period, he was also involved in a large epidemiological survey on obstructive lung disorders in North Tröndelag, studying nearly 10 000 adults and 10 000 adolescents sampled from a population cohort of 92000.
Since 2002 when moving to Lund in southern Sweden he is currently appointed as professor in asthma and Allergology. A translational research group with special focus on peripheral airway inflammation, reparation and regeneration has been established. The primary study populations are asthma and COPD, but we there are also ongoing parallel projects on interstitial fibrosing lung disorders and on lung transplant patients with or without chronic rejection. Tissue derives from bronchial and transbronchial bronchoscopy sampling and from surgical resections. Non-invasive parameters derived from advanced physiology, imaging techniques and biomarkers are studied in parallel with morphology and cell and matrix biological research.
During the last years he has devoted an increasing interest in practical aspects of managing asthma and COPD, from randomized clinical trials to a more “real life” setting. I also run a clinical trial unit performing mainly phase II studies. Since January 2020 I have been appointed part time as senior advisor at St Olavs University hospital/NTNU in Norway with primary aim to facilitate integration between hospital and academia. The overall goal is to be a part of a national plan for networking between centers in order to recruit more clinical research studies to Norway.