reporter www.imperial.ac.uk Issue 180 • 19 July 2007 Centenary Queen bestows new charter for Imperial’s birthday celebrations > centre pages health minister staff party rocks Professor Sir Ara Darzi south kensington appointed to the Roving reporters government capture the day PAGE 3 PAGES 8–9 in brief AHSC news New Paediatric Research Unit declared open The Paediatric Research Unit, the UK’s first unit solely devoted to paediatric clinical research, • Have your say people to ask questions Kensington Town Hall on 10 was officially opened on 9 July. The Unit is run by The twelve-week consulta- and to express their views. July. Delegates considered researchers from Imperial and St Mary’s Hospital, tion on the proposal to A further 80 people packed how to achieve the mission and is based next to the hospital’s paediatric wards create an Academic Health into the joint overview and and goals of the AHSC. in Paddington. Professor John Warner, Chair in Science Centre (AHSC) scrutiny committee meeting Paediatrics, Head of the Department of Paedi- atrics at Imperial and consultant paediatrician will close on 31 July. The at Portcullis House. • AHSC appointments at St Mary’s Hospital, spoke at the opening. He response so far has been The Joint Steering Group explained that researchers should be designing positive, with approximately • Intranet update has agreed that senior posts therapies specifically for children and their 70 per cent of the comments Staff meetings have now in the AHSC will be for the problems, rather than scaling down treatments received supportive of the been held across the integrated organisation that were created for adults. “In many respects idea. More views from staff campuses. Professor Steve and not specifically for the the make-up of children differs from that of adults: are needed and there is still Smith’s presentation and all NHS or Imperial (following they have different metabo- time to have your say. To the questions and answers the same style as the joint lisms; their organs are not register your opinion online, are on the consultation Principal/Chief Executive as mature as adults’; and visit www.ahsc.org.uk. pages of the new AHSC role). Job descriptions, diseases can behave differ- intranet at www.ahsc.org. person specifications and ently in children’s bodies. To create the best therapies • Positive response uk/intranet. an appointments process for children we need to Patient and Public Involve- are being developed for include them in ment Forums and Black • Mission takes shape executive appointments our research.” and Minority Ethnic A working conference to the board, which will be Forums, Friends meetings, was held for key clinical, responsible for setting the staff meetings and public managerial, teaching and strategic direction for the New interim Head for SORA meetings have provided research leads from across AHSC from 1 October. Professor Mervyn Maze has become the Interim opportunities for over 1,000 the three organisations at Head of the Division of Surgery, Oncology, Reproductive Biology and Anaesthetics from 1 July, following Professor Sir Ara Darzi’s appointment as Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department of Health (see page 3). Professor Maze is Head of Department of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and New microscopy facilities in focus Intensive Care, Campus Dean for the Chelsea and Westminster Campus, and an Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Two new imaging facilities He will serve as Interim Head until the permanent for looking at cells and mol- arrangements for a new Head of Division are ecules were officially opened concluded. Professor Nagy Habib will succeed by the Rector on 4 July. Professor Darzi as Head of Department of The £1.5 million facilities will Biosurgery and Surgical Technology. provide researchers from across the College with leading-edge technology for imaging across Centenary podcast a range of scales, from whole now available living organisms, down to the Great figures from Imperial’s proteins inside cells. past are brought back to life in The first new centre the Centenary edition of the is called the Facility for Dr Raffa Carzaniga, Manager of the new Electron Microscopy Centre, uses one of the College’s monthly podcast. Imaging by Light Microscopy new electron microscopes which magnifies samples up to 500,000 times. July’s podcast allows legen- (FILM) and is based in the dary and well-loved figures Sir Alexander Fleming building. Led by the magnify samples by 500,000 times, including Dennis Gabor and Eric Laithwaite to speak Faculty of Medicine’s Professor Tony Magee, down to a resolution of just one nanometre. again about their work via archive it contains eight powerful optical micro- This facility will allow researchers to see recordings recently discovered by Colin Grimshaw scopes, which can magnify cell samples the ‘ultra structure’ of cells—meaning the of Communications. The podcast also offers an 2,000 times. molecules inside the cell. It will also be interview with the Rector, giving his perspective The second facility, designed to com- used by Imperial scientists to pioneer a on Imperial’s last 100 years and looking forward plement the work in FILM, is the Electron new kind of imaging that bridges the gap to what the future might hold. Microscopy Centre. Led by Professors between these nano-scale images of cell • The podcast is available to download on the Marin van Heel and Paul Freemont from the components and the ‘big picture’ imaging first working day of each month at www.imperial. Division of Molecular Biosciences, this centre of the whole cell using light microscopy. ac.uk/aboutimperial/pressoffice/podcasts has five electron microscopes which can —Danielle Reeves, Communications 2 reporter 19 July 2007 • Issue 180 Imperial Professor made Rector presents health minister prizes at annual Royal Regatta Imperial’s Professor Sir Ara The review follows Alan In celebration of the College’s Darzi has been appointed as Johnson’s announcement that the Centenary, the Rector, Sir Richard Parliamentary Under Secretary at NHS should be “clinically-led, Sykes, presented the prizes at this the Department of Health, it was patient-centred and locally account- year’s Henley Royal Regatta. announced on 29 June. able”. It will involve patients, doctors, nurses and other practi- Unfortunately this year’s event, held on 4–8 July, Sir Ara currently holds the Paul tioners, and it is his experience as a didn’t see success for an Imperial team. The Hamlyn Chair in Surgery at the clinician that Sir Ara intends to bring Imperial Prince Albert crew made a sterling College, is Head of the Division of to his new role. He said: “I come effort in reaching the semi-finals, but lost Surgery, Oncology, Reproductive from the frontline and will remain by half a length to Goldie Boat Club. The Biology and Anaesthetics (SORA), on the frontline, working with and University of London team went on to win and is widely recognised as one of learning from the talented and the Cup. the UK’s leading surgeons in the committed people in the NHS. In making the presentation the Rector praised field of minimally invasive and I will be taking their experiences the achievements of the winners, saying that there’s no robot-assisted surgery. He will retain and knowledge with me and will such thing as an easy race or an easy medal at the Henley his Chair at Imperial during his be their advocate at the heart of Royal Regatta. new parliamentary appointment Government.” Sir Ara will report his He underlined Imperial’s deep bond with the event, and and will maintain his research and findings before the 60th anniversary spoke of the “singular and guiding force” given by a team’s clinical commitments, including of the NHS in July 2008. coach. “At Imperial, we have been lucky enough to have the supervision of students. Welcoming the appointment, the figures like Charles Bristow, Chas Newens, and Bill Mason to He is also an Honorary Consultant Rector said: “The Prime Minister lead our club. ...They each share one thing: they are inspira- Surgeon at St Mary’s and the Royal has said that he wants to form a tional figures. How else would students Marsden NHS Trusts and is expected government of all the talents, and he push themselves beyond their limits in to continue his research activities could not have called upon a greater Imperial events such as this?” and give frontline care to patients for talent in healthcare to serve in his shares a one day a week. administration.” Row-past Sir Ara, who will become deep bond Some of Imperial’s oarsmen provided a Lord Darzi of Denham when he is Healthcare for London with the spectacle in celebration of the College’s introduced to the House of Lords Sir Ara was commissioned by the Centenary when they performed a on 19 July, has been asked by Government in September 2006 to Regatta row-past at tea time on the Saturday of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and review health services in London. the Regatta. The two eights were the Health Secretary Alan Johnson to His healthcare for London plan was record-holding Ladies Plate eight of 1992 lead a review of the NHS that will published on 11 July and this 10-year and Thames Cup crew of 1995, which contained three of the advise on how to meet the chal- vision states that the NHS needs Sydney gold medal lenges of delivering healthcare over to change if it is to meet the rising eight from 2000—Luka the next decade. Key areas he will expectations of Londoners, improve Grubor, Simon Dennis examine are high quality joined-up the health of an expanding popula- and Louis Atrill, who services for those with long term tion, and provide value for money.