Biography

Dr. Ricardo José is a highly qualified and experienced respiratory physician with particular expertise in complex respiratory infections, bronchiectasis, and respiratory diseases associated with cancer therapy.

He obtained his undergraduate degree in Medicine (MBChB) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and holds a diploma in Anaesthetics from the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa, a postgraduate certificate in Public Health from the University of Manchester, and a PhD in Respiratory Infection, Inflammation, and Immunity from University College London (UCL). He is a consultant member of the British Thoracic Society Bronchiectasis Specialist Advisory Group.

He has excellent patient reviews, attesting to his expertise, dedication, and compassionate care for his patients. 

Clinical expertise

Dr José is experienced in all aspects of respiratory medicine and helps people with many respiratory symptoms and conditions. He has particular expertise in complex respiratory infections, bronchiectasis and respiratory disease associated with cancer therapy and runs a dedicated clinic for respiratory infection and disease management in patients with primary and secondary immunodeficiency. Additionally, he helps many people with unexplained breathlessness or a cough that doesn’t want to go away. 

His areas of expertise include: 

  • bronchiectasis 
  • severe, persistent, unusual, or recurrent respiratory infections 
  • primary and secondary immunodeficiency 
  • primary ciliary dyskinesia 
  • fungal lung infection 
  • airway disease due to fungal sensitisation (e.g. allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis) 
  • non-tuberculous mycobacteria 
  • chest infections 
  • pneumonia 
  • respiratory complications in patients with cancer
  • cough 
  • asthma 
  • COPD 
  • unexplained breathlessness

Research interests 

Dr José has extensive research experience in respiratory medicine, having been awarded a prestigious Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellowship for his work on lung infection with streptococcus pneumoniae.

He continues to research host susceptibility and pathogenesis of respiratory infections as an honorary associate professor at UCL Respiratory.

He has authored several book chapters on respiratory infections and pulmonary complications of cancer therapy and was a section editor for the second edition of the Encyclopaedia of Respiratory Medicine. He has also been an associate editor of the Journal of Clinical Case Reports and the Annals of Research Hospitals for eight years. 

Teaching

Dr José is an experienced teacher and examiner, with a passion for teaching medical students and other healthcare professionals. He is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has been a past clinical lead of the prestigious UCL MBPhD programme.  

Publications

Dr Ricardo José has published extensively including in the journals Lancet, Lancet Respiratory Medicine, British Medical Journal, Thorax and Nature Mucosal Immunology and Journal of Immunology.

Most recent publications include: 

  • clinical and radiological phenotypes and endotypes (in bronchiectasis) 
  • COVID-19 cytokine storm: the interplay between inflammation and coagulation 
  • opportunistic bacterial, viral and fungal infections of the lung. 

He has also contributed several book chapters in the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Respiratory Medicine including "Pulmonary Complications of Lung Cancer Therapies" and on Bacterial pneumonias in ICU in the Oxford Textbook of Respiratory Critical Care.