Personal recollections of BSACI over the years

Andy Wardlaw BSACI member; President 2002-2006

Ifirst became aware of the BSACI in 1984 when I joined Barry Kay’s laboratory. At that time it appeared little more than an informal collection of asthma and allergy scientists. In 1990 led by Robert Davies, Barry and Stephen Holgate the profile of the society was raised with an AAAAI style scientific meeting over three days in Edinburgh with abstracts published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy (CEA). Initially a success the meeting flagged when in 1996 an attempt was made to go into partnership with the much larger BSI which overshadowed our small society at the time. However the experience gained in running a high-quality meeting allowed us to successfully host the EAACI Congress in Birmingham in 1998 which was a scientific and financial triumph providing the fiscal platform for a more professionally run society in later years. Up to the millennium the BSACI had given little thought to allergy services despite increasing awareness of the ‘allergy epidemic’. Dr Ewan prioritised lobbying of the Royal College of Physicians and the Department of Health to expand the number of trainees within the recently created speciality of Allergy.

By 2002 the society had a no permanent administration or office and a limited income. It needed a revamp. We were rescued by Jack Barnes a recently retired senior civil servant who took pity on us. Jack rented highquality office space from the British Thoracic Society and recruited Fiona Rayner to run the society. This was an inspired appointment as the success of the BSACI over the last two decades has been largely down to her excellent management. We wrote a new constitution which has stood the test of time establishing a number of sub-committees of Council including the very successful

Standards of Care Committee and a paediatric sub-committee to represent the burgeoning growth of the discipline. We also encouraged participation of Allied Health specialists. Chris Corrigan set about repairing the annual meeting by returning to the template established by Professor Davies which set the course for two decades of increasingly successful events. CEA continued to provide an international window for the society as well as underpinning its finances.

The BSACI has enriched my professional life, providing a wealth of friends and colleagues. It has transformed itself over the last four decades from an amateur club into a highly professional outfit with a growing membership and a contemporary outlook, although I still regret the passing of the old logo. Blessed with a steady stream of hard-working volunteers its promotion of allergy services has been of considerable benefit to the speciality and wider society. Not least amongst those stalwarts was Tony Frew whom I had known since we were undergraduates together in Cambridge. He exemplified the loyalty, commitment, selflessness, companionship and good sense that has guided the society so effectively over the years. Many others have put their heart and soul into the BSACI which has every reason to be proud of its achievements.

Deborah Marriage

Former Chair of BSACI Nurses Committee and BSACI Secretary

Istruggle to remember a time now before I became a member of the BSACI. I do remember a work colleague, Dr Joe Unsworth saying to me in clinic one afternoon in about 2008 ‘I’m not sure what your career ambitions are but the BSACI could do with some more nursing input. You’d be good, you should join’. I have no recollection at all of the order of these following events but I have two early memories; attending a conference, and joining the Nurses Group. My first annual conference was in Nottingham and was a much smaller affair that it is today. My accommodation was a damp room with breakfast in a bag left outside the door each morning, and conference rooms were smaller and fairly crowded. My take home message came from a talk on FPIES (which I had never heard of and thought I would never see) but lo and behold, the very same year I was able to make our first departmental diagnosis. I also attended EAACI in 2010, where in an attempt to meet people I made the mistake of getting on the German bus for dinner which was a definite challenge to my linguistic skills. who met in Regent’s Park. As allergy became more prevalent and more scientific the society gradually grew and the Annual Meetings did so too. We moved to Derby, then Nottingham for a few years, followed by Loughborough, Telford and finally Harrogate. Membership increased into four figures, evolving to include not only adult physicians, but paediatricians, dermatologists, nurses, chest physicians, dietitians, ENT surgeons and immunologists. Primary care membership was encouraged, particularly during the presidency of Steve Durham, when the realisation that the burden of allergy was so great that it needed to be dealt with much more widely.

Deborah Marriage

I then spotted a call for Nurses’ Group members. I was desperate for collaboration and, despite being employed as an asthma CNS, was keen to evolve my role to include the allergy work I had enjoyed when working with Gideon Lack at St Mary’s. Being involved in the Nurses’ Group was so valuable (thanks Joe for the tip off), allowing me to get properly involved in the BSACI and to meet new work colleagues who are now friends. The group inspired me. I became Chair of the Nurses’ group alongside fantastic colleagues and we were proud to be part of a collaborative national BSACI nurses’ audit on the use of Adrenaline Autoinjectors , given the Barry Kay award in 2017. BSACI has given me many things over the years which include knowledge, and confidence in my work. Currently, I am involved with SOCC, the BRIT Registry, and am a Trustee.

Glenis Scadding

BSACI President 2009-2012 1947 was a very good year. It saw the inception of the NHS and the BSACI, plus the arrival of Windrush and me. In that year Vera Walker, an ophthalmologist, contacted John Freeman about initiating an allergy society. The resulting British Association of Allergists (now BSACI) first met in 1948, the speakers being Sir Henry Dale and Dr Freeman. Dr A W (Bill) Frankland was the first Secretary, over 50 members joined. .

By the time I had taken up Allergy as my specialty, the BSACI was still a small organisation run by Sue Duff part-time in her spare bedroom. The Annual Meeting consisted of a few (mainly adult) allergists

The BSACI is now a wonderfully broad church and all the better for it. Some of our most successful meetings have been in conjunction with other societies: the BSI, EAACI and the WAO. A memorable one for me was in Glasgow when we first joined with EAACI. The opening ceremony involved Barry Kay and Robert Davies wearing kilts and, I think, attempting toss the caber. My concentration and therefore memory, was a little diluted by the worry of having arrived plus husband and 3 children and finding that we had nowhere to stay. Fortunately we found a family room in the attic of the very central Railway Hotel. The most memorable was the next time we collaborated with EAACI in London in 2010, when I had the honour of being BSACI President. Tony Frew devised a wonderful spoof of James Bond for the opening ceremony in which I was M. The video included the chase along the Thames, absolutely appropriate, since the meeting was in the riverside Excel centre. The massive opening ceremony audience had been given flags to wave and this they did with gay abandon, especially to the strains of Land of Hope and Glory. It was Allergy meets the Last Night of the Proms. A close second in memorability was the sight of Shuaib Nasser driving a delighted centenarian Bill Frankland round and round on the dodgems in Telford. Bill, whose trial was the first to prove efficacy of allergen immunotherapy and Harry Morrow Brown, another elder statesman who did great work in showing that eosinophils in sputum predict corticosteroid responsiveness, are much missed, as is Barry Kay, who demonstrated the inflammatory nature of asthma and co-edited the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy for many years. All are remembered by named lectures and prizes at BSACI meetings.

The BSACI is now a wonderfully broad church and all the better for it. Some of our most successful meetings have been in conjunction with other societies: the BSI, EAACI and the WAO.

Glenis Scadding

Integration also happened with patient organisations such as Allergy UK and the Anaphylaxis UK, thus widening the ability to get messages out, not only to medical staff but also directly to those affected by allergies. This linkage has been successful over many years thanks to stalwarts such as David Reading, then Lynne Regent at Anaphylaxis UK (Formerly Anaphylaxis Campaign); Muriel Simmons and then Carla Jones at Allergy UK. Recently the Harrogate auditorium was the scene of a very moving opening session on the death of Natasha EdnanLaperouse with brave contributions from her parents.

My presidency was marked by getting the BSACI into a home of its own. This was necessary as the always excellent Fiona and her staff had coped valiantly with 3 moves from various rented business premises in 18 months, which was extremely disruptive. Fiona, Richard Powell (then Treasurer) and I visited several possible locations, but were very taken with the space and light at the top of the current building in what became very fashionable Battersea. I hope that the staff are still happy there, although I understand that the roof did need expensive repairs. Sadly, my suggested solar panels never came to fruition. However, I suspect and hope that the BSACI will remain a beacon of good allergy practice and of good collaboration, cooperation and friendship in future years and I wish it well for its centenary.

John Warner

Former Chair of BSACI Paediatric Committee

My path into allergy started at a very early age because my mother had eczema, asthma and hay fever which improved dramatically after she received pollen allergen immunotherapy in the 1950’s. This was, of course, due to Bill Frankland’s publication describing the world’s first double-blind trial demonstrating the efficacy of pollen immunotherapy.

It was, therefore inevitable once I commenced research into the pattern of asthmatic responses to house dust mite challenge and the impact of allergen immunotherapy, that I would seek membership of BSACI. Having the opportunity to meet, amongst many others, Bill Frankland, Jack Pepys, and Roger Altounyan was very compelling. My initial memories were of friendly and supportive twice yearly 1-day scientific meetings which led to many research collaborations and life-long friendships. However, coming from paediatrics, I found myself in a minority group with meetings dominated by allergists from adult medicine. How things have changed!!

After an intense discussion with Roger Altounyan about my research during a meeting he asked me about my next career step which was to complete clinical training. He was concerned that I should extend my research. Two months later he phoned me and said he had fixed an appointment for me to work with Freddie Hargreave (1938-2011) in Hamilton Ontario. While in the end I did not takeup the offer it is a fine example of the support evolving from membership.

During the International Congress of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (ICACI) triennial meeting held in London in 1982 and organised by BSACI I was tasked by Robert Davies (the co-chair with Jack Pepys) to be the press secretary. The meeting was a great success and was followed by IAACI evolving into the World Allergy Organisation.

Subsequently I became the secretary of BSACI during the period when Robert Davies was the president. He and I planned the first annual 2-3day meeting. He and I also linked with the French equivalent Society and we arranged a joint meeting in Montpellier in 1988 through Jean Bousquet and Professor FB Michel. I decided to hire a plane to transport BSACI members to Montpellier thereby reducing costs of the flight. We gathered at Gatwick in the early morning and were taken to an elderly Dan Air plane sometimes known as a flying coffin. Several of our members elected to not proceed but the majority were persuaded to continue with my offer of champagne which I rapidly purchased from duty-free. The flight to Montpellier was uneventful and was fondly known as “Allergy 1”. However, the return created a memorable experience. On reaching cruising altitude a highpitched whistling sound caused alarm. It was attributed to a leak around a door seal and the crew attempted to stuff Jiffy cloths into the seal without success. The rest of the flight was at low altitude to reduce the air leak. Gavin Boyd, the then treasurer of the BSACI, observed that it was interesting to fly through rather than over the Alps. Following our safe return, I complained to Dan Air which refunded part of the costs to the benefit of the society.

The BSACI has gone from strength to strength.

From my perspective, it is gratifying to see the large numbers of paediatricians who have not only becoming members and presented high quality research, but also now have leading roles guiding its future.

Isabel Skypala Chair of BSACI Standards of Care Committee

Ihave worked in adult allergy for over 30 years, encouraged and enabled by my mentor, Professor Stephen Durham. In 2000, I set up the food allergy specialist group of the British Dietetic Association and was keen for more dietetic involvement in the BSACI since I had become a member. I went to meet the then President Andrew Wardlaw to discuss this and he co-opted me onto Council. This enabled me to lobby for a reduced meeting fee and membership fee for dietitians, and because I was on the programme committee, I could also help to promote food allergy to be included in conferences. The BSACI then was a small close-knit community and although it is much larger now it still has a very close and collegiate approach. I feel that the BSACI has promoted and supported dietitians in the UK to become very specialized and able to work at a high level. I cannot now remember the exact date of my first BSACI conference, but it was during Andrew Wardlaw’s presidency, and was held in Loughborough. It was very exciting, meeting and mixing with likeminded people, and I was made to feel very welcome and valued. The meeting and subsequent involvement in the BSACI paved the way for some great and lasting friendships.

Chris Corrigan Former BSACI Honorary Officer

Little did I know, when I first tapped on the office door of a certain Professor Barry Kay at the National Heart & Lung Institute at the Brompton Hospital back in the early 80s hoping to be given a research registrar post, that with his help I would embark on a long, fulfilling and, I trust, productive relationship with all of the BSACI colleagues that I have met and worked with since. At that time, Allergy was a medical speciality in the throes of birth, with help offered to a few patients in major centres and pioneered by visionaries such as Jack Pepys and

Bill Frankland. Jack Pepys was already well known for his work at that time: the picture below, from the front cover of the September 2001 issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, shows one of the many simulated occupational challenges he developed at the Brompton Hospital during the 1960s. With Barry Kay’s foresight, and alongside people like Jack and Steve Durham, Allergy pioneers all, I was inspired to devote my research career to the pathogenesis and management of asthma, and my clinical career to the management of adult allergy.

At that time, the speciality of adult Allergy had no training curriculum or trainees; those entering the profession inevitably did so after training in related specialities such as Clinical Immunology. After establishing my career with Barry, who was President of the BSACI between 1993 and 1996, I moved on to Guy’s Hospital and King’s College London to work with another lifelong friend and colleague, Tak Lee, who succeeded Barry as BSACI President between 1996 and 1999. At that time our research nurses, under the supervision of Tak, myself and other colleagues such as Lawrence Youlten performed allergen immunotherapy for pollen-induced allergic rhinitis and our Allergy service began to take shape. Still no specialist trainees, though, so one day I decided to bite the bullet and compose a training curriculum for Allergy specialist trainees which was eventually acknowledged and ratified by the Joint Committee on Higher Medical training at the Royal College of Physicians. Allergy training and assessment was born, and with the support of the Trust I was able to recruit our first ever adult Allergy trainee, Sophie Farooque. Sophie was the first of very many trainees who have become my dear friends and colleagues and who have enhanced and enlarged the reputation, solidarity and database of the BSACI and gone on to become trainers themselves. Many, such as Leonard Siew, Prathap Pillai and Joanna Lukawska have also undertaken basic research under my guidance, broadening and enhancing expertise and resources for the diagnosis and management of Allergic diseases. The BSACI has remained pivotal in this process as a central hub of expertise, innovation and encouragement, bringing experts together at annual meetings, promoting research through grants and rewarding innovation through many initiatives such as the Barry Kay Award, travel fellowships, a Paediatric Group, a Primary Care Committee, a Standards of Care Committee, a Nurses in Allergy Committee and a National Allergy Strategy Group, to name but a few, and the continuing expansion of its journal, Clinical and Experimental Allergy, a forum for the progress of Allergy research and management. I was fortunate to be nominated for two other beacon initiatives of the BSACI, the Jack Pepys Lecture, a spotlight for outstanding basic research in the field of asthma and Allergy, and the William Frankland Award for the forwarding of Allergy care, both presented at the BSACI annual meeting. The second attached picture is from the BSACI Annual general meeting report in 2013, held in Telford. This was the year when I received a trophy for delivering the Jack Pepys lecture, presented to me by Sir Mark Pepys, and my great friend and colleague Adnan Custovic received the William Frankland Award, presented by Bill Frankland himself.

I served the BSACI Organising Committee as secretary for the allotted time span, but was also famous (or perhaps infamous) for another duty I inherited and performed for many years at the Annual BSACI Meeting: that of responding to the President’s After Dinner Speech. Many of my colleagues will recall my loud and sometimes lascivious ramblings which, to be fair, frequently left the participants in stitches. One firm favourite was the story of the patient who visited his Allergist: ”Doc, doc, every time I drink a cup of coffee with milk I get this terrible pain in my nose. Is it an allergy?” To which his Allergist replied: “I don’t know. Have you tried taking the spoon out of the cup?”

Carla Jones Chief Executive Office, Allergy UK

It has been a privilege to be CEO of Allergy UK over the last 8 years. There have been challenges along this journey, but many positive achievements I am proud of too.

We’ve focused on developing the charity’s credibility and excellence, which has only been possible with Amena Warner, our Head of Clinical, alongside. Our Dietitian Service - launched following a need we identified through our Helpline calls - has improved the quality of life for over 1600 families living with food allergy. Our successful Masterclasses for primary care, have provided allergy education for thousands of healthcare professionals.

We’ve raised the profile of the lived experience of allergy through our Allergy Hero Awards, where the public are invited to nominate ‘heroes’ who have supported people living with allergy, our national Allergy Awareness Weeks, and our wide range of excellent education and advice resources. This includes leading on the European School Allergy Awareness programme, which received an award from EAACI, and since then our Model Schools’ Policy in collaboration with the BSACI and Anaphylaxis UK.

We continue to be involved in national, European, and international guideline development, research and consultation, and have held roles as Co-Chair of the National Allergy Strategy Group and been CoChair of the EAACI Patient Organisation Committee (2018 to 2022). I was privileged to be elected President of the European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patient Organisations’ Associations (2021 to 2023) representing 45 patient organisations across 26 countries Europe-wide at European Parliament.

We will continue to work to ensure those affected by all allergies receive the support and care they need. Research projects such as the Allergy Nurse in primary care research, led by the University of Edinburgh and funded by Allergy UK, our 2021 survey on attitudes and perceptions of allergy among the UK population, and our patient and clinician focus groups culminated in the creation of our “Patient Charter for People Living with Allergic Disease”, launched in Westminster in May 2022. The Patient Charter vision of The Right to A Quality Standard of Care, The Right to Accurate Information and Education and The Right to Equality in Society will continue to inform our advocacy campaigning, such as recent Westminster debates on the unmet need of allergy.

Only by joining together can we achieve our collective goal to improve the lives for all living with allergy in the UK. Thank you for your support during my leadership.