School of Medicine celebrates community and 2026 winners with Education Awards event

The medical school brought together a range of staff, students and guests to recognise outstanding efforts from colleagues to undergraduate education.

Delayed at the last minute due to June’s heatwave, Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) instead hosted this year’s celebrations in September, gathering at the Reynolds Building, Charing Cross Hospital Campus and ‘home’ of the medical school, for the annual event.

The awards, given jointly with Imperial College School of Medicine Students' Union (ICSMSU), highlight the exceptional work of a range areas of activity across the School's undergraduate Medicine and Medical Biosciences programmes.

In the seven award categories this year, 26 awards were presented to 27 individuals, including one team, to recognise and thank them for their above-and-beyond contributions. Winners included teaching fellows, tutors, Professional Services staff, and clinicians from ICSM's partner Trusts and sites, alongside a feature for the adjacent Local Teaching Heroes scheme, in which staff based at clinical sites are recommended by their Trust to receive recognition from the School for excelling in their roles.

Awards were presented to winners by ICSMSU President 2025-26, Sarah Azam, with recipients introduced by ICSMSU President 2026-27, Isaac Cowley, with an overview of their achievements and reasons for nomination.

Celebrating colleagues

For the first time in the history of these awards, the Distinguished Teacher Award was presented to two recipients, Dr Chris John and Professor Niamh Martin. This award is not presented by default each year only when the awarding panel feel strongly that it is deserved. 

Both Dr John and Professor Martin were praised for their longstanding contributions to a range of undergraduate teaching and leadership roles, covering the current Medicine, intercalated BSc and Medical Biosciences programmes, as well as previous programmes like the Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences courses. Colleagues praised Professor Martin's motivation, solution-orientated approach and huge kindness, while Dr John was recognised for his incredible supportiveness and his extensive experience and wisdom around teaching, making him the first port of call for many aspiring new teachers when they arrive.

This year's recipient of the Head of School Award, presented at the discretion of Professor Amir Sam, Head of Imperial College School of Medicine, was Dr Richard Pinder.

Dr Pinder said, "It was wonderful to be recognised through this award, alongside all the other recipients. But it was even better to meet so many enthusiastic, capable and highly dedicated colleagues and have them come together from across the university and NHS.

"Together all these brilliant clinicians and educators make ICSM such a wonderful place to learn, work and develop."

News and progress

Ahead of the annual awards event and celebratory reception, attendees heard short talks from three members of the School community, sharing their work in key areas of activity.

Professor Brian Robertson updated on the development progress of the exciting new MSci Medical Science and Innovation, of which he is Head of Year 1, and which will have its first intake in September 2027.

Fran Bertolini, Welfare Manager, discussed the landscape of welfare and student support, some of the challenges and the School’s ongoing work in this area.

Dr Giskin Day then introduced some of her work on incorporating play into the curriculum, giving examples of ways to engage students in different ways to help facilitate working in teams or groups, and thinking differently about approaches to problem-solving, including setting the audiences some challenges of their own.

After the talks and the ceremony, attendees were welcomed to the event reception with music from a string quartet from the Imperial College School of Medicine Students’ Union Music Society, with Zach Cox, Yongmin Ju, Cameron Soo on violin and Angie Qiao on viola.

Dr James Jensen-Martin, Director of Quality and Student Experience and host of the event, said, “We are so pleased to have this opportunity to recognise and celebrate our colleagues for the incredible work they do, and to let them know how grateful we are for their commitment, time and energy.

“With these awards nominated directly by students or by colleagues, it's a wonderful way for staff to know that their efforts are appreciated and that they are making a huge impact. The high quality and wide range of nominations we received this year shows us the School is just going from strength to strength, and that is down to the fantastic dedication of a huge amount of staff across every aspect of the School's activity."

The Awards will not return in the same format in 2027 in order to make way for celebrations of the School of Medicine’s 30^th anniversary, marking the final merger of the constituent medical schools – Charing Cross and Westminster, St Mary’s and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School – in 1997, creating today's Imperial College School of Medicine.

The School of Medicine is delighted to share the 2026 winners in full:

Excellence in Tutoring

• Dr Bhavesh Patel, Consultant ENT Surgeon and Academic Tutor
  Northwick Park Hospital 
• Dr Valerie Soo, MRC Career Development Fellow and Academic Tutor
  Department of Infectious Disease

Teaching Excellence

• Dr Aravinth Sivagnanaratnam, Consultant Stroke & GIM Physician
  Northwick Park Hospital
• Dr David Antcliffe, Clinical Associate Professor and Honorary Consultant in Critical Care
  Charing Cross Hospital
• Dr Iain Stewart, Advanced Research Fellow
  National Heart and Lung Institute
• Dr Jens Foell, GP
  Plas Menai Health Centre, Llanfairfechan
• Dr John Vogel, Intensive Care Consultant, Honorary Consultant in Critical Care
  Ealing Hospital
• Dr Monjur Showkat, Clinical Skills Tutor, Honorary Clinical Lecturer
  Charing Cross & Hammersmith Hospitals
• Dr Wei Cui, Associate Professor in Stem Cell Biology
  Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology (IRDB), Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Supporting the Student Experience

• Carly Line, Welfare Administrator
  Faculty Education Office
• Jane Gois, Undergraduate Medical Education Manager
  Charing Cross Hospital
• Liz Crowdey, Programme Administrator (Electives and Careers)
  Faculty Education Office

Supporting the Student Experience - Team Award

• Sandy Fung (Programme Administrator) & Savita Afonso (Programme Officer), BSc Medical Biosciences Years 1 and 2 Programme Team
  Faculty Education Office

Teaching Fellow Excellence

• Dr Abi Harrison, Undergraduate Clinical Teaching Fellow
  Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
• Dr Alice Miller, Clinical Education Fellow (MBBS Year 2)
  Faculty Education Office
• Dr Anabel Varela Carver, Principal Teaching Fellow
  Department of Surgery and Cancer
• Dr Georgia Peers, Clinical Teaching Fellow in Lifestyle Medicine and Public Health
  School of Public Health
• Dr Giselle Farrer, Clinical Teaching Fellow
  Northwick Park Hospital
• Dr Kim Alipio, Clinical Teaching Fellow in Lifestyle Medicine and Public Health
  School of Public Health
• Dr Krishan Goyal, Undergraduate Clinical Teaching Fellow
  Hillingdon Hospital
• Dr Shantelle Awofadeju, FY3 Doctor and Clinical Teaching Fellow in O&G
  St Mary’s Hospital

Peer Award

• Jen Grote, Programme Officer (MBBS Phase 1)
  Faculty Education Office
• Rob Macdonald, Programme Manager (Assessment)
  Faculty Education Office

Distinguished Teacher Award

• Dr Chris John, Associate Professor in Pharmacology
  Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction
• Professor Niamh Martin, Professor of Endocrinology
  Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Head of School Award

• Dr Richard Pinder, Director of Undergraduate Public Health Education
  School of Public Health