New School of Medicine Director of Research appointed

Professor Sir Alex Markham, MBBS, PhD, FRCPath, FRCP, FRSC, FMedSci, has been appointed as Director of Research in the School of Medicine.

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Sir Alex, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Molecular Medicine Unit at St James' University Hospital, will chair a new School of Medicine Research Committee, reporting to the School Executive, which will develop and implement a Biomedical Translational Strategy for the School.

Sir Alex is an Honorary Consultant Physician for the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Yorkshire and a National Advisor to the Department of Health on gene therapy. 

He has extensive experience of working with the pharmaceutical industry, and was awarded the Queen's Award for Technological Achievement in 1990 for his work on the development of DNA fingerprinting.  He has served as Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Research UK (from May 2003 to 2007) and as Chairman of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI).  Additionally he has held senior advisory roles for the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN), and the National Institute of Health Research Advisory Board.  He serves as a Member of the Government's Cancer Reform Strategy Advisory Board and is Chairman of the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) Translational Medicine Board.

Sir Alex was knighted for 'Services to Medicine' in the Queen's 2008 New Year Honours List and ius a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Paul Stewart, Dean of the Medical School welcomed the appointment. “This is an important step in the development and implementation of our innovative Biomedical research strategy. Alex is an immense asset to the School and wider University-NHS interface and brings considerable expertise to this role”.

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