Dr Christopher Stevenson

Christopher Stevenson is a lecturer in the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology and is a member of the Respiratory Pharmacology Group at the National Heart & Lung Institute.  

Dr. Stevenson obtained a BSc (Hons) in pharmacology from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1996. He then accepted a position at SmithKline Beecham before being awarded a SeaGrant Industrial Fellowship in 1998.  He obtained his PhD from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2002 for his work describing the anti-inflammatory actions of a novel marine natural product, scytonemin.  Dr. Stevenson has worked in an industrial setting for 9 years at GSK (& SmithKline Beecham) as well as Novartis where he led two COPD drug discovery projects and the COPD target discovery group prior to joining Imperial College in July 2007.  

His research interests are directed towards identifying molecular pathways which may be involved in chronic lung disease susceptibility and progression.  Specifically, his lab is investigating whether there’s a link between aerobic metabolic function and susceptibility for developing complex diseases, such as COPD.  Dr. Stevenson’s work also concentrates on investigating the inflammatory mechanisms underlying chronic lung disease. His lab uses a multi-disciplinary approach, using molecular biology techniques to validate prospective therapeutic targets in normal and diseased human tissue, testing hypotheses in relevant preclinical disease models and identifying translational biomarkers using systems biology approaches.

Dr. Stevenson is an expert on preclinical models of COPD and has published several papers on the development of such models. He is a scientist with an extensive network of collaborators both in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry.   In addition to his responsibilities as lecturer, Dr. Stevenson also serves as an Industrial Liason for the Centre for Integrative Mammalian Physiology and Pharmacology.