Professor Andrew Farmer reappointed as NIHR Senior Investigator
Exeter Fellow in Clinical Medicine Professor Andrew Farmer has been reappointed as a Senior Investigator for the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). He was originally appointed a Senior Investigator by NIHR in 2013 for a period of five years. In 2016 Professor Farmer was made Chair of an NIHR board to assess funding applications.
Professor Farmer’s reappointment was announced in February. He is one of two Oxford professors to be reappointed, the other being Mark McCarthy, Professor of Diabetic Medicine. They are joined by eight new Senior Investigators from the University of Oxford:
- Professor Paul Aveyard, Professor of Behavioural Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
- Professor Eleanor Barnes, Professor of Hepatology and Experimental Medicine, Nuffield department of Medicine
- Professor Anke Ehlers, Professor of Experimental Psychopathology, Department of Experimental Psychology
- Professor Carl Heneghan, Professor of Evidence-based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
- Professor Susan Jebb, Professor of Diet and Population Health, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences
- Professor Graham Ogg, Professor of Dermatology, Radcliffe Department of Medicine
- Professor Andrew Pollard, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity, Department of Paediatrics
- Professor Paresh Vyas, Professor of Haematology, Radcliffe Department of Medicine
Senior Investigators are appointed from NIHR Investigators through annual competitions, informed by the advice of an international panel of experts. In total, more than 300 Senior Investigators have now been appointed, with the number of active Senior Investigator awards maintained at around 200. They form part of the NIHR Faculty.
Senior Investigators are each awarded a discretionary fund of £15,000 per year. In addition, NHS institutions with whom Senior Investigators are associated and which are eligible for Research Capability Funding (RCF) attract an additional amount for each of their Senior Investigators.
The role of the NIHR Senior Investigator includes contributing significantly to the NIHR as a senior leader; leading in the training and development of staff; acting as an ambassador for the NIHR in the wider healthcare system; maintaining and developing a track record of excellence in clinical and applied research; contributing to economic growth; and integrating patient and public involvement and engagement into research.
Professor Keith Channon, Director of the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), said: “Congratulations to the colleagues whose outstanding research leadership has been recognised. The NIHR Senior Investigator award is a major achievement.
“These awards are also a great endorsement of the clinical research work done in Oxford through the partnership between the University of Oxford and the two NHS trusts, embodied by our BRCs.”
He added: “Oxford NIHR Senior Investigator awards accounted for eight of the 43 new awards and two of the 12 renewals made by the NIHR nationally – more than any of the other University-Hospitals partnerships in England.”
Professor John Geddes, Director of the NIHR Oxford Health BRC, said: “Our Oxford colleagues have done wonderfully well in this highly prestigious and very competitive round.
“Senior Investigators form the intellectual heart of the NIHR and Oxford’s success demonstrates our enormous commitment to – and contribution to – this national treasure.”
