Clinical expertise
Dr Hewitt has subspecialist expertise in interstitial lung diseases including:
- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)
- hypersensitivity pneumonitis
- lung disorders associated with connective tissue and autoimmune diseases
- cryptogenic organising pneumonia
- sarcoidosis
He is also experienced in managing general respiratory conditions including:
- asthma
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- respiratory infections
- bronchiectasis
- chronic cough
He regularly performs and supervises bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) as part of the diagnostic work-up for interstitial lung disease.
Dr Hewitt has won the following awards:
- Royal Society of Medicine Young Respiratory Investigator Prize (2009)
- Health Education North West London Excellence in Leadership Award (2013)
- Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Best Clinical Lesson Spoken Presentation (2013)
- American Thoracic Society International Trainee Scholarship Award (2016)
- Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis American Thoracic Society Conference Attendance Award (2020)
Locations
Our specialist provides care at these locations:
Biography
Dr Richard Hewitt is a consultant respiratory physician who sees private patients at Royal Brompton Hospital and Wimpole Street Consulting Rooms and Diagnostic Centre.
Dr Hewitt qualified with distinctions at Imperial College London in 2011 and achieved first-class honours in an intercalated BSc in respiratory sciences. He undertook postgraduate general medical training in London attaining MRCP(UK) in 2014. He trained in respiratory medicine at St Mary’s Hospital, Charing Cross Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital.
Dr Hewitt gained extensive research experience through NIHR academic clinical fellowship and clinical lectureship awards and holds a postgraduate certificate in genomics medicine. In 2017 he was awarded a prestigious Imperial College Clinician-Investigator Scholarship and went on to complete a PhD in the National Heart and Lung Institute.
His doctoral research focused on the role of airway epithelial cells and immune cells in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). He is now an adjunct senior lecturer at King’s College London where he is investigating airway immune changes in early fibrosing lung disease.
He provides clinical and educational supervision to respiratory specialist trainees and internal medicine trainees at Royal Brompton Hospital.
Research
Dr Hewitt is developing a research programme investigating airway immune changes in early fibrosing lung disease including those with interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) detected through computed tomography (CT) screening programmes. Through research into early disease mechanisms, he is working towards developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to treat pulmonary fibrosis.
Publications
Dr Hewitt has published basic, translational and clinical research articles in the field of pulmonary fibrosis and other areas of respiratory medicine. He has also co-authored a book chapter on the diagnosis and management of ILD. See a full list of Dr Hewitt’s publications here.
