Imperial College London Primary Care

The Imperial NIHR Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), a partnership between the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College, has been awarded nearly £113million by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in the latest round of funding announcements (August, 2011). This award will start in April 2012 and will be used to support translational research and healthcare innovations across the partnership over the course of five years.

His Excellency Dr Hanif Al Qassim (3rd left), Prof Stephen Smith (4th left), Prof Salman Rawaf (2nd left) and the UAE delegation On the 8th-10th February 2011 the WHO Collaborating Centre for Public Health Education and Training at Imperial College London had the pleasure of hosting the United Arab Emirates Minister of Health, His Excellency Dr Hanif Hassan Al Qassim and his accompanying senior delegation. There were four days of visits, interacting with health leaders across London, strengthening collaborative links and viewing health services at a practical level. The UAE is a federation of seven states termed Emirates including Abu Dhabi and Dubai with their separate health care authorities. Over 80% of the population are expatriates and the economy is one of the most developed in Middle East with a high level of health care. Like many countries, there are concerns about inequity in health and health care and active strategies and programmes are being put in place to address this. ...

The Imperial College International Public Health Society is hosting a debate entitled: S hould corporations be involved in deciding public health policy?  Monday 31st January 2011 Starts: 17.50 Finishes: 19.00 Location: Clinical Lecture Theatre (Room 234), Cambridge Wing, St Mary’s Hospital Paddington, Praed Street, London W2 1NY. The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, recently announced his new plans for corporations such as McDonalds and PepsiCo to be key players in writing UK public health policy. They will co-chair five ‘responsibility deals’ with government ministers, which will give them unprecedented power and influence. Will this help fight obesity, alcohol and diet-related diseases, or make these problems worse? The 3 speakers will be: MELANIE LEECH , Director General of the Food and Drink Federation. The Food and Drink Federation is the UK’s largest trade association representing food and drink companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Cadbury’s, Mars, Nestle, Mu...

I am very sad to have to report that Dr Grant Blair died in December 2010. Grant died peacefully at home from the complications of a long-term illness. Grant was for many years the joint head of the Year 6 General Practice Student Assistantship on the undergraduate medical course at Imperial College. During his time at Imperial College, he made a considerable contribution to undergraduate primary care education, and was a very committed and popular teacher. Grant also made important contributions to postgraduate teaching and training in primary care, both in the UK and overseas. Grant was also for many years a GP at the Lillie Road Surgery in Fulham. The picture below shows Grant on one of his educational trips to China, where he was very held in very high esteem for the work he did to develop primary healthcare.

It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Dr Mabel Alli. Mabel died in December 2010 from the complications of a long-term illness. Mabel was the Director of the North West London Haemoglobinopathy Network, which is based in the Department of Public Health at Brent Primary Care Trust, and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College. Through her work with the Haemoglobinopathy Network, Mabel made an important contribution to improving the care of people with sickle cell disease and thalassaemia. In her most recent project, Mabel was working with the NW London CLAHRC programme to develop a training programme in sickle cell disease for general practitioners in Brent PCT.