Imperial College London Professor of Surgery named Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Health

College welcomes appointment of Professor Sir Ara Darzi, an internationally acclaimed and pioneering surgeon, as Parliamentary Under Secretary

For immediate use
29 June 2007

Imperial College London Professor of Surgery named Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Health

Imperial College London today welcomed the appointment of Professor Sir Ara Darzi, an internationally acclaimed and pioneering surgeon, as Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Department of Health.

Sir Ara, 47, currently holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair in Surgery at Imperial College and is Head of the Division of Surgery, Oncology, Reproductive Biology and Anaesthetics in the Faculty of Medicine. He is widely recognised as one of the UK's leading surgeons in the field of minimally invasive (keyhole) and robot-assisted surgery.

Sir Ara will retain his Chair at Imperial while at the Department of Health. During his appointment he will maintain his research and clinical commitments including the supervision of students.

Sir Ara is also an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at St Mary's Hospital NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust. He is expected to continue his research activities and give front line care to patients for one day a week.

The Rector of Imperial College, Sir Richard Sykes said:

"Sir Ara is a master of his surgical craft, and he has dedicated his skills to the care of his patients. His championing and development of new surgical techniques and technologies have led to benefits for patients right across the UK.

"He is also a dedicated university teacher and inspiring leader to many trainees, researchers and medical students. These qualities and his vision for the future of our country's healthcare make him ideally qualified to accept this unique role.

"It will be a great challenge for Ara and one that we support him fully in tackling. The Prime Minister has said that he wants to form a government of all the talents and he could not have called upon a greater talent in healthcare to serve in his administration."

Professor Stephen Smith, Principal of the Faculty of Medicine, said:

"With his new appointment, Sir Ara moves from being a leading figure in our Faculty and in medicine to being a key figure in the country as a whole. Sir Ara is an exceptional surgeon and innovator who is greatly dedicated to his work. As a College we can be proud of his contribution to society through public service and I am confident Sir Ara will be every bit as valuable in government as he continues to be at Imperial."

Prof Darzi and colleagues are credited with pioneering the use of minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery in the UK. Sir Ara has also helped develop new training methods, involving the use of virtual reality to allow surgeons to practice their skills.

He was one of the first to use the Da Vinci robot for surgery, and the first in the UK to trial the use of the Remote Presence (RP-6) 'Robo-Doc' system, which allows doctors to see and examine patients from anywhere in the world.

Sir Ara joined Imperial in 1994, becoming Head of Division in 2004. During this time he has also served on the Department of Health's National Modernisation Board, the NHS Executive and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. He has also been advisor in surgery to the Department of Health. He was awarded a knighthood in 2003 for services to medicine and surgery.

High resolution pictures of Sir Ara are available here:

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ENDS

For further information please contact:

Laura Gallagher
Senior Press Officer
E-mail: l.gallagher@imperial.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)207 594 6702 or ext. 46702
Out of hours duty Press Officer: +44 (0)7803 886 248

About Professor Sir Ara Darzi KBE

Professor Darzi studied medicine in Ireland and qualified from the Royal College of Surgeons. He obtained his fellowship in Surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and a M.D. degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He was subsequently granted the fellowships of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, The American College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Glasgow and of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. More recently he was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering and fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the City and Guilds of London Institute.

Professor Darzi was knighted by the Queen as a Knight Commander of the most excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) in December 2002.

Currently Professor Darzi holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London where he is head of the Division of Surgery, Oncology, Reproductive Biology and Anaesthetics. He is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at St. Mary's Hospital and The Royal Marsden Hospital. He held the office of the Tutor in Minimal Access Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in England where he set the national guidelines in education and training in Minimal Access Surgery. He was also a member of The Association of Endoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Society of Minimal Invasive Therapy.

Professor Darzi's main clinical and academic interest is in minimal invasive therapy, including imaging and biological research together with investigating methods to measure core competen cies of surgery objectively. He has published widely in the field of minimally invasive t herapy. In the past he has been a Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the James The IV travelling fellow for 1999/2000. He has also delivered many prestigious named lectures in the past the most notable ones are, the Robert Smith Lecture, The Zachary-Cope Lecture, The Sylvester O'Halron lecture, Sir Peter Freyer Lecture, the Hunterian e-Master Class and the Faraday Lecture (Royal Society).

Professor Darzi and his team are internationally respected for their innovative work in the advancement of minimal invasive surgery and in the development and use of allied technologies including surgical robots and image-guided surgery. This work has received international recognition including the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence in 2004. Professor Darzi actively pursues, and relentlessly campaigns for, the need for improved inter-disciplinary research with a closer integration of information technology, biotechnology and physical sciences. He leads a team of researchers engaged in a number of fundamental research issues related to the future development of minimally invasive surgery as well as covering a wide spectrum of engineering and basic sciences research topics encompassing Medical Image Computing, Biomedical Engineering, Clinical Safety, Robotics, Man-Machine Interfacing, Virtual/Augmented Reality and Bio-Medical Simulation.

The innovative work of Professor Darzi and his team in education and assessment of surgeons, including the use of simulations and virtual reality, is internationally recognised as showing the way forward for surgical education. They were awarded in 2001 the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Higher and Further Education in recognition for achievements in pioneering new technologies to address training requirements for trainee surgeons, surgeons in post and other professionals.

About Imperial College London

Rated as the world's ninth best university in the 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 11,500 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

With 65 Fellows of the Royal Society among our current academic staff and distinguished past members of the College including 14 Nobel Laureates and two Fields Medallists, Imperial's contribution to society has been immense. Inventions and innovations include the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of our research for the benefit of all continues today with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to tack le climate change and mathematical modelling to predict and control the spread of infectious diseases.

The College's 100 years of living science will be celebrated throughout 2007 with a range of events to mark the Centenary of the signing of Imperial's founding charter on 8 July 1907. Her Majesty the Queen will award the College its new Royal Charter as an independent university on 9 July 2007.

Website: www.imperial.ac.uk