Neil Hanley takes on new role as Clinical Head of the Research and Innovation Division

We are delighted to announce that Neil Hanley, Professor of Medicine at The University of Manchester and Honorary Consultant Endocrinologist at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed as the Clinical Head of the Research and Innovation Division.

For the last 6 years he has been a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science, following on from Department of Health and Wellcome Trust clinician-scientist and doctoral fellowships. He moved to Manchester as part of the original NIHR BRC in Genetics & Development in 2008. In the past he has worked in hospitals and universities in Edinburgh, Newcastle and Southampton, and he was a clinical research fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA.

In addition to his current clinical work caring for patients with all forms of endocrine disorder in Greater Manchester and beyond, Neil runs a laboratory research group studying human development and stem cell biology. He has written textbooks on clinical endocrinology and is currently serving on the Council of the UK’s Society for Endocrinology.

He has served terms on fellowship and clinical training panels at NIHR and the MRC, in addition to sitting on equivalent panels at the Wellcome Trust, Juvenile Diabetes Research Council and Research Council of Norway.

In the Faculty of Medical & Human Sciences at the University of Manchester, Neil set up and directs the Fellowship Academy. The goal is to develop Manchester’s next generation of leading researchers by increasing acquisition of personal fellowships from the MRC, NIHR and major charities such as the Wellcome Trust. This is an important area of career development; in the last 4 years, fellowships in biomedical and healthcare research have accounted for over £30M of grant awards to Manchester.

Professor Hanley explains:

It is a pleasure to take on this important role. The recent RAND analysis from NIHR shows CMFT in the top 10 research intensive hospitals in the UK. My job is to serve as advocate for all our research across the Trust, to do everything possible to raise our standards still further and take advantage of all the opportunities that will arise over the next few years.

Professor Bob Pearson, CMFT Medical Director, added: “The appointment of Professor Hanley will strengthen the Division’s leadership and strategic vision going forward. The next twelve months is set to be an exciting period with key funding applications being submitted and Manchester being the 2016 European City of Science.”

Professor Hanley joins Kathy Evans, Divisional Director and Keith Chantler, Director of Innovation and Academic Affairs to form the Division’s Executive Team.