Award BRC researcher appointed Dean of the NIHR Academy
Professor Waljit Dhillo has been appointed as new Dean of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academy.
The NIHR Academy is responsible for providing research training to NHS staff and wider healthcare researchers so they can address key health issues such as new treatments for diseases which could benefit patients and populations. They do this by developing and coordinating academic training as well as creating opportunities for health researchers to progress in their career.
Professor Dhillo is a Professor in Endocrinology & Metabolism at Imperial College London and Consultant Endocrinologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. His research includes the development of safer IVF treatment for women; robotic sensor technology to diagnose women’s reproductive health problems in real-time; and exploring whether kisspeptin can ultimately be used to treat men with common psychosexual disorders, such as low libido. He was previously an NIHR Research Professor and this year was appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator.
Professor Dhillo, who will start his new role in September, is currently the Training Lead for NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre and member of the BRC Metabolic Medicine and Endocrinology Theme Management Team.
As Dean of the NIHR Academy, Professor Dhillo will support the delivery and development of NIHR Academy schemes, including the Integrated Academic Training Programme, Personal Research Fellowships, the Integrated Clinical Academic Programme, the Infrastructure Training Forum, as well as a number of Global Health Training Programmes. Working in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NIHR Academy CEO, Professor Dhillo will provide oversight on the development and delivery of NIHR research training programmes, to ensure they meet the needs of the current research landscape, as well as identifying future gaps and how to solve them.
Professor Dhillo said “I am thrilled to be appointed as the Dean of the NIHR Academy. It is a huge privilege to be able to serve the academic community and shape the training for the next generation of NIHR’s academics. Professor Dave Jones has done a terrific job as the current Dean of the NIHR Academy and I will take on this important NIHR leadership role knowing the NIHR Academy is in excellent shape. I think we still have a lot more to do to ensure equality of opportunity – in the context of equality, diversity and inclusion but also ensuring there are attractive robust academic career paths for researchers from all backgrounds. This will be an exciting challenge which I look forward to delivering with the fantastic NIHR Academy Team and the DHSC Senior Leadership Team.”
Read more, including quotes from Dr Louise Wood CBE and Professor Jonathan Weber, here.
