¹û¶³Ó°Ôº

¹û¶³Ó°ÔºP comprises five of London's biggest and best known hospitals and research centres: ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº (¹û¶³Ó°Ôº), Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH), Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust and ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH).

It was designated as one of the UK's first academic health science centres by the Department of Health in March 2009 after a rigorous selection process, and will bring together the combined skill and expertise of its clinicians and researchers to focus on the identified themes. Appointments for the cardiovascular and cancer themes are pending and will be announced in the near future.

The appointments that have been made are as follows:

Managing Director

Professor David Fish is currently Medical Director for the Specialist Hospitals within ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH. These have included provision for neurosciences, women's health, cardiovascular disease and dentistry, as well as services at UCH for cancer and the care of children and young people. He has also been Professor of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº since 2000. In 2008 he became Chair of Monitor's Medical Director's Advisory Group, supporting clinical engagement to improve health care management across Foundation Trusts. In 2006 he became a fellow of the British Association of Medical Managers, and is committed to recognising medical leadership as a full time speciality.

Programme Directors

Child health

Professor David Goldblatt is Professor of Vaccinology and Immunology and Head of the Immunobiology Unit at the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute of Child Health, as well as a Consultant Paediatric Immunologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust. He is also the Director of Clinical Research and Development for the joint Institution and Director of its affiliated National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Specialist Biomedical Research Centre.

Eyes and vision

Professor Peng T Khaw is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor of Glaucoma and Ocular Healing at the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute of Ophthalmology. Professor Khaw is also Director of the affiliated National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Specialist Biomedical Research Centre, and Director of Research and Development at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Immunology and transplantation

Professor Hans Stauss is Clinical Director of Immunology, Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Royal Free Hospital, as well as Head of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Immunology Centre focussed on Cancer Immunology and Immunodeficiency.

Infectious diseases

Professor Deenan Pillay is Head of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Research Department ofÌý Infection, and Honorary Consultant Medical Virologist at ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH. In addition he is Head of HIV and Antivirals at the Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency andÌýTheme Lead for InfectiousÌýDiseases in the ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH/¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre. His research interests are in antiviral therapy, particularly for HIV, antiviral drug resistance, and molecular epidemiology of HIV spread.

Neurological disorders

Professor Alan Thompson is Director of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute of Neurology and a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery. He is also Deputy-Director of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº/¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre.

Women's health

Professor Judith Stephenson is Margaret Pyke Professor of Sexual & Reproductive Health at the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Institute for Women's Health.Ìý She is also Head ofhe ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Research Department of Reproductive Health, and holds Honorary Consultant contracts with ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºH in Women's Health and with Camden PCT in Public Health.

Speaking about the appointments, Sir Cyril Chantler, Chair of ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºP, said: "We are delighted to announce the appointments of this group of highly qualified and skilled academics and clinicians. It is another key milestone for ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºP and means that we can move forward with our plans to focus attention on the disease themes we have identified, with the ultimate aim of translating advances in medical research into treatments that will benefit patients."

The Managing Director is the principal accountable executive officer of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Partners Ltd and will support the Chair and partners in ensuring that the Board achieves its annual objectives. They will also establish effective working relationships with a wide range of senior managerial, research and clinical staff across the partner organisations and with external stakeholders across ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºP's membership and in academia, the NHS, research funding organisations and government.ÌýÌý

The Programme Directors are accountable to the ¹û¶³Ó°ÔºP Board via the Managing Director and are responsible for the strategic development of their research theme and for building key relationships across the partnership and beyond, working closely in that regard with the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Vice-Provost for Health, who is the Academic Director of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Partners, and their clinical and managerial colleagues across the Partnership.

-ENDS-

Notes for Editors

1. For further information, please visit the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Partners website at or contact Neil Goodwin, Project Director, ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Partners, on +44 (0)7831 886 834 or at neil.goodwin@uclh.nhs.uk
2. Images are available from Ruth Metcalfe in ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Media Relations, tel: + 44 (0) 20 7679 9739, email: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk
3. As measured by citations in academic publications monitored by the independent ISI Essential Science Indicators service, ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº and its partners are world-class in a number of fields:

- Neuroscience - top in Europe and 2nd in the world

- Clinical Medicine - top in Europe

- Immunology - second in Europe

¹û¶³Ó°Ôº is the most highly cited University in the UK overall.