A DOCTOR who became an expert in treating tuberculosis after contracting the disease as a child has been given a top accolades - an entry in Who's Who.

Professor Lawrence Ormerod - known by his middle name Peter - is one of the UK's most respected experts in prevention and treatment of TB, and the Royal Blackburn Hospital's consultant in respiratory medicine.

He joins supermodel Kate Moss and acclaimed comedy director Armando Iannucci among the new entries for 2008 in the book, which lists the mini-biographies of aristocrats, along with those who have reached the top of their profession.

New entrants are invited to write their own biography, with novelist Barbara Cartland adding 174 lines, but Prof Ormerod's succinct 14-line piece simply lists his career, along with his interests in cricket and military history.

The 57-year-old from Blackburn's two children with his wife Pauline are also mentioned, along with the fact that he was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School.

This week he has also found out that he is going to be the new president of the British Thoracic Society, the top professional body for chest surgeons, where he has been chairman of the advisory committee for 20 years.

Prof Ormerod, who is also a government advisor on TB, trained in Birmingham and Manchester and was recruited in Blackburn in the 1980s to deal with the high levels of the disease in the area.

His interest in TB began when he had the disease as a seven-year-old and that made him want to become a doctor.

He said: "That helped me a lot because I can always relate to how my patients are feeling.

"Treatment has moved on a lot since then but I know exactly how much pain my patients are experiencing."

He filled in a number of forms for the medical version of Who's Who but this was the first time he had been invited to submit to the selection panel for the general book.

He played local league cricket until 52 and still plays in the annual consultants against GPs match.

The selection panel for London firm A and C Black, which compiles the book and its online edition, never reveals its reasons for inviting a particular person, but looks for those who "exhibit a quality which singles them out from their fellows", according to the listed criteria.

Prof Ormerod is a leading member of the British Thoracic Society and is regularly consulted by the government on matters of public health.