Rate My Professor Dennis Thomas

Dr. Dennis Thomas is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, affiliated with the Hunter Medical Research Institute. A mid-career clinical researcher and experienced clinical trialist with over 15 years in designing and managing trials, his investigations focus on respiratory diseases, particularly asthma mechanisms and treatments, including remission as a goal, oral corticosteroid and antibiotic stewardship, treatable traits model of care, and digital asthma care. Thomas completed his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Pharmacy from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India. He then pursued a PhD at Monash University on system change interventions for smoking cessation, encompassing a Cochrane systematic review, a large multi-centre randomized controlled trial, and development and validation of the Challenges to Stopping Smoking (CSS-21) scale. Earlier, he worked nearly five years in the pharmaceutical industry as a Clinical Research Manager, gaining expertise in clinical research. Post-PhD, he led Australia's largest telehealth-based phase 3 smoking cessation RCT (N=1,452) at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, from 2016 to 2019, before joining the University of Newcastle.

Dr. Thomas has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals such as The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, European Respiratory Journal, Chest, Allergy, JAMA, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Key works include 'Asthma remission: what is it and how can it be achieved?' (European Respiratory Journal, 2022), 'Effect of Azithromycin on Asthma Remission in Adults With Persistent Uncontrolled Asthma' (Chest, 2024), and 'Biologics (mepolizumab and omalizumab) induced remission in severe asthma patients' (Allergy, 2024). His pioneering research has shown remission achievable in severe eosinophilic asthma with biologics and in non-eosinophilic asthma with macrolide antibiotics. He has secured $7.5 million in NHMRC/MRFF funding as chief investigator, $2 million as associate investigator, and over $2 million in other grants. Awards include the Respiratory Research Excellence Award (Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, 2024), Best Presentation Award (2022), Best Publication Award (Centre of Research Excellence in Treatable Traits, 2022), and Mid-Career Researcher Award (2023). He has completed five academic RCTs and leads a national digital asthma care tele-trial (N=1,200).