Author: Sara West

Director of the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication

Dr Ana Costa-Pereira has accepted a three-year extension to her term as Director of the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication (CLCC) from 1 July 2025. 

Reporting to the Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience), in this role Dr Costa-Pereira is responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction for an exciting range of provision designed to broaden Imperial students’ perspectives, give new context to their disciplinary knowledge and allow them to share their expertise for the benefit of society. Focusing on humanities, languages, change makers, and science communication, some of these programmes are also open to staff and members of the public. 

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Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Professor Tim Green has accepted the appointment as Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, with effect from 1 January 2025, for a term of five years. Professor Green will succeed Professor Eric Yeatman, who is taking up the post of Vice-Principal and Head of College of Science and Engineering at the University of Glasgow.

Professor Green joined Imperial in 1994 as Lecturer in the department and was promoted to Professor of Electrical Power Engineering in 2005. Professor Green is currently the Academic Lead for Sustainability and is also the Deputy Head of the Department, both of which he will step down from once he takes up the Head of the Department role. He has held several other senior roles such as Director of the Undergraduate Studies and Co-Director of the Energy Futures Lab (EFL).

Professor Green’s research focuses on the analysis and technology to develop a zero carbon electricity supply system that is dominated by variable renewable sources and other inverter-based resources (IBR) such as battery energy storage. He was awarded Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2018.

Head of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine

Professor Mary Morrell has been appointed as Head of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine, with effect from 1 November 2024.

Professor Morrell has been the Interim Head of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine since the School was formed in August 2023.

Professor Morrell joined Imperial as a lecturer in 2000. Since then she has held many senior educational roles, including the Director of Phase 1 and its ‘early years’ predecessor within Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM). Professor Morrell has also facilitated and supported programmes in NHLI, including the successful BSc pathway in Remote Medicine, the first of its kind in the UK, and the Cardiovascular and Respiratory Healthcare MSc.

Professor Morrell’s research has investigated and raised awareness of sleep-related health issues in the UK and her research continues to have impact on the clinical care of thousands of patients.

Professor Morrell would love to hear from anyone interested in the new School. Please do get in contact.

Academic Director for Imperial Global Singapore

Professor Azra Ghani has accepted appointment as Academic Director for Imperial Global Singapore, with effect from 1 December 2024 for a term of three years. This is a 0.5 FTE role.

Reporting to the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), in this role Professor Ghani will provide strategic vision, direction and leadership to the hub.

Professor Ghani is Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the School of Public Health. She is currently Director of the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and she also holds a Visiting Professor appointment at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Professor Ghani’s research has covered a wide range of infectious diseases, including BSE and vCJD, sexually transmitted infections, SARS, COVID-19, influenza and malaria. She is currently a member of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) Scientific Advisory Committee and is a Trustee for the Science Media Centre.

Professor Ghani was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2017 and she was appointed a Member of the British Order (MBE) in 2021.

Extension to term of Associate Provost (Academic Promotions)

Professor Peter Lindstedt has accepted an extension to his term as Associate Provost (Academic Promotions) until 30 September 2026.

Reporting to the Provost, Professor Lindstedt is responsible for oversight of the academic promotions policy and its implementation for Imperial, working in conjunction with the Consuls, Deans, and HR colleagues.

Professor Lindstedt received his PhD from Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering, where he went on to work as a Research Associate in 1984. He then joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering as a Lecturer and was promoted to Professor of Thermofluids in 1999. He has served as Head of the Thermofluids Division, Director of Research and Deputy Head of Department. He was elected Consul for the Faculty of Engineering and Business School for the period 2013 to 2016 and Senior Consul from 2017 to 2019.

Professor Lindstedt’s current research interests include reduced environmental impact from propulsion devices, methods for the prediction of particle size distributions of particulate matter from aero-engines, heterogeneous surface-fluid interactions leading to material degradation in fuel cells, catalytically active materials, highly reactive fuels for advanced propulsion applications and turbulence-chemistry interactions occurring during the use of ammonia and other hydrogen-rich fuels.

Acting Head of the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction

Professor Phillip Bennett has accepted the role of Acting Head of the Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction in the Faculty of Medicine, with effect from 1 October 2024. Professor Bennett will continue in this role until a new postholder is identified and appointed. This is to replace our current Head of the Department, Professor Mark Thursz who has been appointed as Director of the Academic Health Science Centre.  

Professor Bennett has been Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 1995, after joining RPMS (Royal Postgraduate Medical School) in 1988 as a Senior Clinical Research Fellow, which later became Imperial. He was formerly the Director of the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology. He also directs (together with David MacIntyre and Lynne Sykes) the March of Dimes European Preterm Birth Research Centre at Imperial and (together with Tom Bourne) the Tommy’s National Miscarriage Research Centre at Imperial. 

Professor Bennett’s principal research interests are the microbiology, biochemistry and endocrinology of pregnancy, human term and preterm labour, and the stratification, prediction and prevention of miscarriage and preterm birth.  

Professor Bennett was elected Fellow of Academy of Medical Sciences in 2017; Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London, UK, in 2000; Honorary Fellow Maltese College Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 2006; Honorary Fellow American Gynecologic and Obstetrical Society in 2018. 

Consuls and Proconsuls

Professor Anne Dell CBE FRS FMedSci FAA has been elected Consul for the Faculty of Natural Sciences and cross University organisations for a term of office starting from 1 November 2024 until 31 August 2026. Professor Dell will be replacing one of the two Consuls for this constituency, Professor Stephen Curry, who will serve as Consul until 31 October 2024.

The full list of Consuls and Proconsuls for 2024-2025 is set out below.

Consuls
Professor Jonathan Mestel – Senior Consul
Professor Renata Kosova – Faculty of Engineering and Business School
Professor Alessandro Astolfi – Faculty of Engineering and Business School
Professor Miriam Moffatt – Faculty of Medicine
Professor Wisia Wedzicha – Faculty of Medicine (Clinical)
Professor Stephen Curry – Natural Sciences and cross University organisations – until 31 October 2024
Professor David Evans – Natural Sciences and cross University organisations
Professor Anne Dell – Natural Sciences and cross University organisations – from 1 November 2024

Proconsuls
Professor Dorian Haskard
Professor Richard Jardine
Professor Liz Lightstone
Professor Martin McCall
Professor Ann Muggeridge
Professor Peter Openshaw

Extension of term as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences

Professor Richard Craster has accepted an extension to his term as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences until 31 August 2027.

Reporting to the Provost, Professor Craster is responsible for providing strategic leadership, planning and coordination for the Faculty of Natural Sciences, and for driving continuing excellence in research and education. As Dean, Professor Craster is a member of Imperial’s Council and its University Management Board (UMB).

Professor Craster was both an undergraduate and PhD student of Imperial, and joined Imperial as a staff member in 1998 as a lecturer holding an EPSRC Advanced Fellowship, following a lectureship at the University of Nottingham and Junior Research Fellowship at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. He was promoted to Professor of Applied Mathematics in 2004 and was Head of the Department of Mathematics from 2011 to 2017. He was the Director of the CNRS-Imperial Abraham de Moivre International Joint Research Unit until 2023 and is Co-Director of the EPSRC-funded UK Acoustics Network. Professor Craster is also a member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering.

Professor Craster’s research interests lie at the intersection of applied mathematics, engineering and physics in particular in metamaterials, guided waves, fluid mechanics and elasticity.

Head of the National Heart and Lung Institute

Professor Barbara Casadei, MD DPhil FRCP FMedSci, has accepted the appointment of Head of the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) for a term of five years, and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, with effect from 1 October 2024.

Professor Casadei holds the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford and is an Honorary Consultant in Cardiovascular Medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Professor Casadei is a Steering Committee Member of the Oxford BHF Centre for Research Excellence and Lead of the Cardiovascular Theme of the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. She has been in the Board of Trustees of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain & Ireland, since 2021.

Professor Casadei has served on several other senior roles within the University of Oxford such as Lead of the Myocardial Biology Theme of the Oxford BHF Centre of Research Excellence and Deputy Head of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.

She was Elected President of the European Society of Cardiology in 2018 and served until 2020. She served as Board member of the World Heart Federation (2020-22).

Professor Casadei was elected Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedsci), in 2013. She was awarded the Honorary International Fellowship of the American Heart Association (FAHA), in 2018 and was awarded both The Gold Medal of the European Society of Cardiology, and The Mackenzie Medal of the British Cardiovascular Society, in 2020.  

Professor Casadei will take over from Professor Clare Lloyd who, as Interim Head of the NHLI, has been responsible for introducing many improvements and innovations, providing strategic vision, direction, and leadership to the Institute.