Professor Aubrey Cunnington has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Infectious Disease, with effect from 1 February 2026, for a term of five years.
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Professor Graham Taylor, Department of Infectious Disease, has been elected Consul (Clinical) for the Faculty of Medicine.
Professor Darren Meister has accepted appointment as Vice-Dean (Education) at Imperial Business School. He will start the post next year for a five-year term.
Professor Waljit Dhillo FMedSci has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction, with effect from 1 September 2026, for a term of five years.
Anna Caffyn has been appointed as Imperial’s new Chief Financial Officer, and will take up the role in January 2026.
Professor Bernadette Byrne, Professor of Molecular Membrane Biology in the Department of Life Sciences, has accepted the appointment of Associate Provost (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), with effect from 1 October 2025 until 31 August 2027. (more…)
We are pleased to announce that the following staff were successful during the promotions rounds.
Academic promotions and Teaching promotions take place on an annual cycle, with promotions taking effect from 1 September 2025.
Professor Alan Spivey has accepted the role of Interim Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience), beginning on 1 October 2025, for a term of one year.
Professor Spivey will report to the incoming Provost and Deputy President, Professor Peter Haynes. Working closely and collaboratively with key colleagues, he will be responsible for leading the delivery of the university’s strategic aims for the provision of a world-class education for its students, the enrichment of its student experience and to ensure that an ‘Imperial education’ reflects Imperial’s dynamic and enterprising culture.
Professor Allan Young MB, ChB, MPhil, PhD, FRCP (Edin.), FRCPC, FRCPsych has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Brain Sciences for a five-year term, starting from 1 September 2025.
Professor Young is currently Chair of Academic Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Psychiatry in the Department of Brain Sciences, having rejoined Imperial earlier this year from King’s College London. He previously held roles at Imperial as Chair of Psychiatry and Director of the Centre for Mental Health between 2010 and 2013. He has also held academic appointments at Oxford University, Newcastle University, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has received research grants from many funding agencies and has over 800 peer-reviewed publications, including several books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders.
He has held a number of leadership roles in professional and scientific societies and is currently Vice-President of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP). He is past President of the International Society for Affective Disorders and of the British Association of Psychopharmacology, and the Inaugural Chair of the Special Committee for Psychopharmacology of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is also a former trustee of the patient and family charity Bipolar UK, and a current trustee of the Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU).
Professor Nigel Brandon has been appointed as Vice-President (Corporate Engagement).
He will take on this role in October 2026 after he stands down as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering in September 2026.
The Vice-President (Corporate Engagement) is a new role that will focus on developing Imperial’s relationships with executive leaders in key knowledge- and technology- intensive sectors to yield new educational, research, innovation and philanthropic opportunities.
Working in collaboration with senior leaders and teams across Imperial to deliver on their strategic plans, he will support the development of new partnerships and act as an ambassadorial role for their stewardship.
This new role will be focused on ensuring organisations have access to the best Imperial has to offer, from our world-leading research and education, innovation and enterprise and consultancy.
In addition to Nigel’s tenure as Dean, he is a Professor of Sustainable Development in Energy. Previously he was Vice Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Engineering as well as Founding Director of the Sustainable Gas Institute and the Energy Futures Lab.
The search for a new Dean of the Faculty of Engineering will commence in the coming months.