Stephen Kevin Smith is an academic and health executive who led the creation of the United Kingdom's first Academic Health Science Centre at Imperial College London.
Smith was Principal of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College, London and Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust at its inception in 2007 then the largest such trust in the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ] Later on, he was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne having been the Vice President (Research) at the Nanyang Technological University and Founding Dean of the joint Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore. He was a founder of the Sino-Chinese biotechnology company, GNI Group Ltd.[ citation needed ]
A gynaecologist by training, he has published over 230 papers on reproductive medicine and cancer and was awarded his Doctor of Science in 2001 for his work in Cambridge on the complex gene pathways that regulate the growth of blood vessels in reproductive tissue using gene network analysis.[ citation needed ] He was head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cambridge. He now serves on the board of Great Ormond Street, Children's Hospital, London and a range of biotechnology and digital analytics companies.[ citation needed ]
Smith began his academic career at the University of Edinburgh (1978–1981 and 1985–1988) and the University of Sheffield (1981–1985). [1] Soon after, he served at the University of Cambridge as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1988–2003). He was also the Clinical Director, Women's Services, at Addenbrooke's Hospital National Health Service Trust (1997–2003). [1] In 2004, Smith served as Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing at the University of Glasgow. [2]
In 2004, he was appointed the Principal of the Faculty of Medicine of Imperial College London, heading one of Europe’s top medical schools through an active period of growth and development. [3] [4] At Imperial College, Smith also led the formation of the United Kingdom's first Academic Health Science Centre as Chief Executive. [5] Launched in 2007, the Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service Trust was formed from the integration of Hammersmith Hospital National Health Service Trust and St Mary’s National Health Service Trust with Imperial College. [6] His pioneering role in establishing the trust was recognised at the 2009 National Health Service Leadership Awards, during which he was named Innovator of the Year. [7] [8]
In 2010, Smith was appointed Imperial College's Pro Rector (Health), while remaining the Chief Executive of the Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service Trust. [9] He took on the role of NTU’s Vice-President (Research) in September 2011 [10] to lead the strategic development of research at the university, [11] [12] which is the fastest-rising Asian institution among the world’s top 100 universities in the QS World University Rankings between 2010 and 2011. [13]
Smith has been active in research since 1978. A gynaecologist by training, he has published over 230 papers on reproductive medicine and cancer. [10] For his work on the complex gene pathways that regulate the growth of blood vessels in reproductive tissue, Smith was awarded his DSc in 2001. [4]
Smith is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal Society of Arts. [10] In 2009, the Health Service Journal ranked Smith among the top 30 most powerful people in National Health Service management policy and practice in England. He was the only National Health Service chief executive to be included. [14]
Smith has served on numerous committees for organisations such as the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council, the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health (USA), the National Health Service, the British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. He also sat on the Health Innovation Council of the National Health Service and is a Trustee of Pancreatic Cancer UK and chairs the scientific advisory board. [10]
Obstetrics and gynaecology is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics and gynaecology. The specialization is an important part of care for women's health.
Gynaecology or gynecology is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area of obstetrics and gynaecology (OB-GYN).
The School of Medical Sciences at the University of Manchester is one of the largest in the United Kingdom with around 6,000 undergraduates, 3,000 postgraduates and 2,000 staff. It is the third oldest medical school in England and the largest medical school in the United Kingdom. The Faculty is a member of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre and has four affiliated teaching hospitals at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital, Salford Royal Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital.
Sir Dugald Baird FRCOG was a British medical doctor and a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology. Baird was most notable and influential in calling for the liberalising of abortion. In his delivery of the Sandoz lecture in November 1961, titled the Fifth Freedom, he advocated for freedom from the tyranny of fertility.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is, pregnancy, childbirth, and female sexual and reproductive health. The college has over 16,000 members in over 100 countries with nearly 50% of those residing outside the British Isles. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales became the RCOG's patron in 2018.
West Middlesex University Hospital (WMUH) is an acute NHS hospital in Isleworth, West London, operated by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It is a teaching hospital of Imperial College School of Medicine and a designated academic health science partner. West Middlesex University Hospital serves patients in the London Boroughs of Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames and Ealing. The hospital has over 400 beds and provides a full range of clinical services including accident and emergency, acute medicine, care of the elderly, surgery and maternity.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre.
Dame Lesley Regan is a British gynaecologist, professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust at St Mary's Hospital. She was the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 2016 to 2019 – only the second woman to ever hold this role and the first in sixty-four years.
The Faculty of Medicine is the academic centre for medical and clinical research and teaching at Imperial College London. It contains the Imperial College School of Medicine, which is the college's undergraduate medical school.
Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran is a Sri Lankan Tamil physician, former president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and president-elect of the British Medical Association.
Catherine Jane CalderwoodFRCOG FRCPE is Northern-Irish born Scottish consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, who has served as the National Clinical Director for Sustainable Delivery at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital since 2021. She previously served as the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland from 2015 to 2020, having advised the Scottish Government's initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.
Ian Jacobs is an academic, medical doctor, gynaecological oncologist, charity founder and university leader from the UK, with dual British and Australian citizenship.
Alastair Harvey MacLennan,, MB ChB, MD, FRCOG, FRANZCOG is a Scottish-Australian physician, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, medical researcher, and a community health advocate. He studied and practised medicine in Glasgow, Chicago, and Oxford before moving to Australia in 1977 to take up a position at the University of Adelaide, where he went on to become the Professor and Head of the Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2006. He retired from his full-time academic position in 2013, and he is now Emeritus Professor of Medicine. He leads research projects at the Robinson Research Institute, and he is Head of the university's Cerebral Palsy Research Group.
Nancy Beaton Loudon was a Scottish gynaecologist. She devoted her professional life to pioneering, and ensuring provision of family planning and well woman services. She was a fore-runner in the specialty of 'community gynaecology'.
Jenny Higham is the first woman to serve as Principal of St George's, University of London, which she took up an appointment in November 2015. St George's, University of London obtained University status in June 2022, meaning Professor Higham's position is now Vice-Chancellor. She was the first female to be elected chair of the Medical Schools Council. Higham is also an honorary consultant at St. Georges NHS Foundation Trust and a visiting professor at the Imperial College London.
Usha Menon is Professor of Gynaecological Cancer at University College London, described as "one of Britain’s foremost specialists in gynaecological cancer".
Professor Jane Norman MD, MB ChB, CCT, MRCOG, FRCOG, FRCP Edin, F Med Sci, FRSE is an academic and physician. She was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bristol in 2019, and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham in December 2022.
Duru Shah is a Mumbai-based gynaecologist academic and women activist. She is the Founder President of the PCOS Society, India and a promoter of adolescent girls and women's health and infertility in India. Shah is also the promoter of Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. She is also a Consultant ObGyn.: Breach Candy Hospital, Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai.
Bosede Bukola Afolabi is a UK-born Nigerian Gynaecologist, Professor, and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder and chairperson of the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC), a research and training NGO. She is also the Director at the Centre for Clinical Trials, Research and Implementation Science (CCTRIS).
Lucy Chappell is a British professor of obstetrics at King’s College London and the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) for the UK Department of Health and Social Care. As part of her CSA role, she oversees the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) as Chief Executive Officer. Her research areas include medical problems during pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia, and the safety of medicines in pregnancy.