An Islander who spent years waking up in the night gasping for breath says a Southampton-developed treatment transformed her life… Now, a £1m donation from a Jersey couple to a major research project is aiming to accelerate similar breakthroughs for future patients.
“Gasping for air”
For much of her life, St Lawrence resident Carly Silvester lived with severe asthma.
Diagnosed at the age of seven, she suffered from one of the most serious forms of the condition, with allergies so severe that certain foods – or even being around animals such as horses – could leave her struggling to breathe.
Her younger adult life was marked by flare-ups, steroid treatments and frequent hospital visits.
But her life changed when she was referred to specialists in Southampton.
There, she was placed under the care of Professor Hans Michael Haitchi, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Southampton and an honorary consultant physician at University Hospital Southampton, and started on a treatment called Mepolizumab.
The drug targets a molecule responsible for triggering the overproduction of eosinophils – white blood cells which can cause chronic inflammation in the airways of people with severe asthma. By blocking that process, it helps prevent attacks and improves breathing.
Carly explained that the impact was profound.
“From the very first appointment, the team at Southampton were exceptional,” she recalled.
“The effects weren’t immediate, but after a few months, my life began to change. I stopped waking in the night, gasping for air. I stopped reaching for my inhaler at 1am. For the first time in my life, things felt possible.”
These days, she says her asthma no longer dictates what she can and cannot do.
“There is not really anything I cannot do now or would not do as a result of my asthma,” she added.
From one breakthrough… to the next
Carly’s treatment was not simply prescribed in Southampton – it was also shaped by Southampton research.
Researchers at the University of Southampton played a key role in the development of Mepolizumab, from early safety trials through to studies demonstrating how effective it could be in real-world patients.
Approved by NICE in 2017, it has since become a widely used treatment for severe asthma that does not respond adequately to conventional therapies.
Now the university hopes to create more breakthroughs like it – thanks, in part, to Jersey couple James and Mindy Vernon.
The pair has donated £1m towards the University’s proposed Institute for Medical Innovation – a £100m project which aims to bring together doctors, scientists, engineers and data specialists to accelerate the development of new treatments.
The institute will focus on five major areas of disease: cancer, dementia, sight loss, infection, and respiratory and allergic conditions, including asthma.
“It holds a special place for Jersey”
The Island has a long-standing relationship with Southampton – more than 7,000 referrals were made from Jersey to Southampton in 2024/25 alone, with many patients travelling there for specialist treatment unavailable on the island.
Mr Vernon said that connection was one of the reasons behind the family’s support for the project.
“The University of Southampton is at the heart of research that touches the lives of so many people,” he said.
“It also holds a special place for Jersey too, as countless islanders depend on Southampton’s specialist medical services.
“This new centre represents a remarkable chance to go further than ever before, deepen these vital connections and create better outcomes for patients.”
The Vernons’ donation will fund the Digital Collaboration Hub at the new institute – a specialist facility housing high-performance computing systems, bioinformatics software and research teams who will use medical data, AI and genomic analysis to speed up scientific discovery.
Professor Paul Elkington, Director of the Institute for Medical Innovation, said the aim was to help life-changing treatments reach patients sooner.
“We know families are waiting and, while technology is advancing at pace, medical science must keep up,” he said.
“The result will be smarter drugs, innovative devices, and kinder treatments for cancer, dementia and other devastating diseases – reaching patients in years, not decades.”
The Institute for Medical Innovation is expected to be fully operational by 2030.