Chief Executive and Principal appointed to lead UK's first Academic Health Science Centre

Professor Stephen Smith takes up top position at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust - News Release

For Immediate Use
Monday 24 September 2007

Professor Stephen Smith, Principal of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, has today been appointed to the joint position of Principal of the Faculty of Medicine and Chief Executive of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, with effect from 1 October.

His joint Chief Executive and Principal appointment is the first in the UK to combine responsibility for an NHS Trust with leadership of medical research and teaching in an academic institution.

Professor Stephen Smith is head of Imperial's Faculty of Medicine and the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust On 1 October 2007, The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and St Mary's NHS Trust will merge and integrate with Imperial College London. The result, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will form the foundation for the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre (AHSC), and will be the largest NHS Trust in the UK. Professor Smith will take up his joint appointment on 1 October 2007.

Professor Smith is currently Principal of the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London, which is ranked fourth in the world for biomedical research in the Times Higher Education Supplement world university rankings. He will integrate this role with that of Chief Executive of the NHS Trust, and in so doing begin a unique and groundbreaking process of integration between Imperial College London and the NHS.

Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College London said: "With the Academic Health Science Centre we will advance science for our patients' health, leading to a higher quality of healthcare. All our staff should be inspired to share in our mission of finding and delivering better outcomes to patients. Leading the new organisation to meet this challenge demands someone who can inspire both the best clinical academic team and the best performing hospital staff in the UK.

"Professor Steve Smith has a vision for the UK's first AHSC that we think will break the mould for the provision of healthcare in this country, and we are delighted that he has accepted appointment as our first joint Chief Executive and Principal. The creation of a new role combining the leadership of service, research and teaching across an NHS Trust and a university is a key step forward in advancing the standard of healthcare in this country."

Professor Smith said, "I am proud to be leading the UK's finest hospitals and one of the world's foremost biomedical research universities. This is a new endeavour to fuse our best research, teaching and healthcare so that we increase our research into new discoveries in clinical science which will benefit our patients faster. Our task is to break down the artificial barriers that have existed between research and healthcare so that our teams spend more of their time and resources in laboratories and with patients to deliver truly world class clinical research, teaching and healthcare."

Lord Tugendhat, Chairman of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust welcomed Professor Smith's appointment and said, "I am delighted that Professor Smith has been appointed following an extensive international recruitment campaign. He has led the UK's leading biomedical faculty and worked very closely with The Hammersmith and St Mary's. The combination of his track record of success at Imperial, his vision for what the NHS and academia can achieve together and his leadership and managerial experience make him the best choice to be the UK's first Chief Executive/Principal of the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre."

For more information please contact Tom Miller, Director of Communications, Imperial College London on 020 7594 8740 or Nick Samuels, Director of Communications, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, on 020 8383 3864

Notes to Editors

Professor Smith was educated at Birkenhead School, Merseyside, before beginning his medical career at Westminster Hospital Medical School and qualifying as a doctor in 1974. He has held academic appointments at the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Imperial College London and NHS clinical appointments at Hammersmith Hospital, Addenbrooke's in Cambridge, the Northern General and Jessop Hospital in Sheffield, and the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh.
A gynaecologist by training, Professor Smith has published over 220 papers on reproductive medicine and cancer. Professor Smith was awarded his DSc in 2001 and has been elected a Fellow of the Institute of Biology, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the New York Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts. He also holds several directorships, and is a founder member of Metris Therapeutics Ltd and Gene Networks Inc.
Professor Smith, 56, has led on the creation of the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre as the project's Senior Responsible Owner since March 2007. In August 2007 approval was received from the Secretary of State for Health to merge Hammersmith Hospitals and St Mary's Hospital and integrate with Imperial College London, from 1 October. Professor Smith has been at the forefront of the development of the UK's first Global Medical Excellence Cluster for London and South East England and he is also the current Chair of London Genetics.
He provides advice to and serves on numerous committees for organisations including the Medical Research Council, World Health Organisation, the National Institutes of Health (USA), the NHS and the British Heart Foundation.
Steve is married to Catriona and they have three children. His interests include flying, history, keep-fit, music and Manchester United Football Club.
Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and St Mary's NHS Trust were recently rated the second and third best hospitals in the country for clinical performance, quality of care and safety1. Dr Foster Good Hospital Guide 2006 - How healthy is your hospital (April 2007).
Imperial College is one of Europe's largest medical research institutions and was recently ranked fourth in the world for biomedical research. The Times Higher Education Supplement 2006 world university rankings.
It is expected that Imperial College would sponsor an application for the AHSC to become an Academic Foundation Trust in 2008. This would be subject to a separate consultation.
This proposal did not include any service changes. Any proposals for service change would require separate business cases and impact assessments and would be subject to the statutory consultation and scrutiny requirements.
In December 2006 the AHSC partners were selected as one of the UK's 11 Biomedical Research Centres. The award guarantees the partners research funding of £19.5 million per annum for the next five years, and makes the West London BRC the leading centre for the UK. BRCs will be leaders in translating scientific research into benefits for patients.
In April 2007, St Mary's NHS Trust, The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trusts and Imperial College London were announced as one of two Research Centres for NHS Patient Safety and Service Quality in the UK. The £4.5 million Research Centre will be based in Imperial College's Biosurgery and Surgical Technology section, at St Mary's Hospital, London.
More information about the AHSC is on this site.