Message from the Dean
12 Oct 2018
Latest news from Peter Clayton
This week we are celebrating the first anniversary of the creation of Health Innovation Manchester (HInM), and so it’s timely that we recognise the key role HInM plays – not only in bringing together the research, academic and clinical assets of the city but also in supporting the University – and specifically our Faculty – in building long-term and very successful relationships with our research, NHS and social care partners.
A great example of this is the new ‘One Manchester Imaging’ strategy, which you can read about in more detail HERE . This illustrates how HInM has marshalled resources from the Faculty, our NHS partners and a number of commercial companies to develop world class PET and MRI scanning facilities that will ultimately deliver a real step-change in healthcare for our region.
In the last edition of the newsletter you may remember that we reported on the two-day visit of a delegation from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM) – just the latest in a series of meetings that demonstrate the Faculty’s commitment to a growing international agenda for teaching and research collaborations. And HInM has another important role to play here, as demonstrated by Chief Executive, Professor Ben Bridgewater’s presence at the UK-China Health Dialogue in Beijing last month along with the UK’s Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock and other UK health and industry leaders.
You can read more about the aims and achievements of HInM and view a celebratory film HERE. Happy Birthday HInM!
May I also recommend you take a moment to watch an excellent new four-minute film about our biologists that premiered last night at the Royal Society of Biology’s annual awards ceremony at the Francis Crick Institute in London. The film was produced by ITN Productions with the support of our researchers and students in the School of Biological Sciences and our Faculty engagement team. You can view the film HERE.
The FLT is continuing to deliver its programme of Faculty ‘Our Future Vision’ engagement events. I have co-hosted three sessions so far, all of which have seen a good mix of academic and professional services colleagues coming together to generating the ‘Big Ideas’ that will help define the new vision and set the strategic direction for the University.
What has struck me most about these sessions has been the creativity and energy of the discussions, from which a number of common themes are already emerging, principally around developing an institution that offers flexible, lifelong learning; that works more closely with industry and commerce; and that has a truly global presence.
You can read more about the outputs of the meetings in a separate article HERE ; but in the meantime I would encourage all those interested to register for the five remaining events that are taking place over the next couple of weeks. In addition, if managers would like to host their own event to discuss the ‘Big Ideas’ with their teams, the presentation material and accompanying script is available from the Faculty Communications Team (bmhcommunications@manchester.ac.uk).
Earlier this week I was honoured to participate in the Annual Foundation Day celebrations, which this year was attended by members of the University’s North American Foundation (NAFUM), our Global Leadership Board (GLB) and our Hong Kong Foundation. In a keynote speech Dr Gerald Chan, a leading businessman and entrepreneur, spoke about biotechnology and the conflation of science, business and ethics, stressing the importance of universities and the links between creativity and science. He was also a recipient of an an honorary doctorate along with the eminent scientists Professors CNR Rao and Emmanuelle Charpentier, the actress Sarah Lancashire and the architect Rachel Haugh. You can watch a recording of the proceedings HERE.
I took the opportunity to meet with Professor Charpentier, who kindly accepted my invitation to come back to the Faculty to give a lecture on the ground-breaking CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering technology that she has developed at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology. I also spoke briefly with Sarah Lancashire to congratulate her on her award-winning performances In Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, and learned that she had joined us on her birthday – and that of her twin brother Simon, who is a medical graduate of the University!
Finally, you may have heard that Professor Jane Worthington, Vice-Dean and Head of the School of Biological Sciences, will be leaving us at the end of the year. Needless to say I am very sorry to see Jane go and I will be saying more later in the year about her invaluable contribution to the success and ongoing development of the Faculty. In the meantime, we will be advertising for a new Head of School internally and I would encourage all those interested to apply.
Peter Clayton
Interim Vice-President and Dean