David Fish

Areas of Interest

Honorary Award

Honorary Doctor of Letters, 2001

Biography

Professor Sir David Fish is a renowned academic, clinician and Managing Director of UCL Partners - Europe's largest academic health science centre.

Sir David's passion and commitment to making a difference to patients has driven UCL Partners' strategy, and through this collaborative approach there are currently more than 50 active projects working to enhance healthcare, research, education and training.

Citation

"Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Professor Sir David Fish for the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.

Professor Sir David Fish is a renowned academic, clinician and Managing Director of UCL Partners - Europe's largest academic health science centre.

Early in his medical career, Sir David opted to specialise in clinical neurology however his vision, leadership and talent for administration soon led to his appointment to a number of senior managerial and academic roles. 

In 2000 he was appointed Professor of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology at UCL, and in 2006 he became a Fellow of the British Association of Medical Managers.

In 2008 he was appointed Chair of the Medical Director's Advisory Group for Monitor - the Government-backed body charged with making the health sector work better for patients.

Sir David has also served as Medical Director for the UCLH Specialist Hospitals that are responsible

for the provision of neurosciences, women's health, cardiovascular disease and dentistry. Yet it is for his work with UCL Partners that he is most widely recognised.

UCL Partners includes five of London's leading hospitals and research centres namely the Royal London-Barts, UCLH, Moorfields, Royal Free and Great Ormond Street, each with their distinctive established international reputations, proud histories and different cultures. Since its formation in 2009, Sir David, as its Principal Executive Officer, has played the pivotal role in driving through a radical and far-reaching rationalisation of healthcare provision in North Central and North London producing immediate benefits for the region's six million population. Working with six programme directors, the Partnership has also enhanced world class collaborative research in the areas of infectious diseases, neurological disorders, eyes and vision, child health, women?s health, immunology and transplantation.

The remarkable success of UCL Partners is in no small measure due to Sir David's passionate belief in collaboration and inclusiveness rather than competition.

In 2008 the then Government sought bids from clusters of universities to establish Health, Innovation and Education Clusters (HIECs), which, in 2011 were rebranded as Academic Health Science Networks. Under Sir David's leadership, the UCL, Queen Mary London and Anglia Ruskin Postgraduate Medical Institute?s bids were successful and the resulting North East London, North Central London and Essex partnerships became recognised as the most successful in the country.

Sir David has also supported the development of the Clinical Research Network North Thames and the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care, North Thames. His strategy of aligning these roles has given the partners the best possible opportunity to translate innovation into practice across healthcare systems to the benefit of patients with complex medical conditions.

Sir David's passion and commitment to making a difference to patients has driven UCL Partners' strategy, and through this collaborative approach, there are currently more than 50 active projects working to enhance healthcare, research, education and training. 

In 2011 Anglia Ruskin took the lead in establishing the Anglia Ruskin Health Partnership, which brings together the Essex acute hospitals and Essex County Council chief executives to assist in the planning of future healthcare in the County. Sir David has been unstinting in his support of this potentially transforming project.

By recognising his achievements, we have the opportunity to strengthen the relationship that our University already enjoys with Sir David, and also to build even closer links between our Post Graduate Medical Institute, Anglia Ruskin Health Partnership and UCL Partners. 

Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Professor Sir David Fish for the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa."