Two Chiswick doctors receive Imperial College medals for their work

Professor Marine Botto; Professor Jeremy Levy; photographs Imperial College

Professor Jeremy Levy and Professor Marina Botto recognised for their professional achievements

Two doctors at Imperial College, who both live in Chiswick, have been awarded medals by the College for their professional work.

Professor Jeremy Levy, a consultant in renal medicine, heads up Imperial College’s Clinical Academic Training Office (CATO), while Professor Marina Botto is Head of the Department of Immunology and Inflammation and Director of Bioservices.

Professor Botto has been given the Imperial College Medal awarded for ‘meritorious or praiseworthy service to Imperial or for having otherwise enhanced its reputation, mission and objectives’.

The department Jeremy leads has been awarded the President’s Medal for Research Support Excellence.

Based in the Faculty of Medicine, CATO provides ‘expert knowledge, inspiring activities and invaluable resources’ to support healthcare professionals at all levels to pursue an academic career, providing training courses, masterclasses and tailored support.

The citation explains that ‘through their bespoke advice, mentoring and guidance, early stage clinical researchers have developed their own academic excellence, won important funding and developed skills to succeed in a difficult and competitive field’.

So successful have they been that their methods have been copied by other universities.

Jeremy’s citation being read out at the Imperial College Graduation Honours dinner

Jeremy’s team instrumental in supporting initiatives for women in science

‘In recent years CATO has been recognised as an exemplar of best practice by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and their approach has been replicated by universities across the nation’.

At Imperial’s Graduation Honours dinner, Jeremy was presented with the medal for his team and congratulated not only on ‘uplifting the reputation of Imperial’ but on developing the next generation of talented and dedicated clinical academics.

‘The CATO team have also been instrumental in supporting initiatives for women in science, with their work being highlighted as a point of excellence in a recent Imperial-wide review of equality, diversity and inclusion issues’.

Jeremy told The Chiswick Calendar nurses, for example, are every bit as much encouraged to pursue academic research as doctors are.

Women make up 89% of nurses in the UK, according to the BMJ. Almost a third (32%) nurses are from a Black and ethnic minority background.

Jeremy receiving the medal for his team

Professor Botto has led the way in promoting openness and improving the public’s understanding of animal research

Professor Botto won her medal for providing outstanding leadership in advancing transparency, accountability, sustainability and responsible practice in animal research at Imperial.

Professor Marina Botto

Her citation says: ‘She has made an important impact on public engagement through numerous impressive initiatives. Including accessible annual reports, staff-led social media takeovers and the launch of Imperial 3R Hubs to share best practice’.

She has also established a Compliance and Risk Management Committee to ensure that regulations on animal research are adhered to by the entire Imperial community.

‘Under her direction the University has been recognised as a leader in Openness by Understanding Animal Research’.

Her work has led to Imperial becoming the first UK university to be accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International.

Jeremy is perhaps better known in Chiswick as the husband of Abundance London director Karen Liebreich than he is in his own right as a member of Imperial’s senior team.

Whenever Abundance has a public event such as the unveiling of the latest community art work on Turnham Green Terrace or the latest plot of land it has replanted, Jeremy is usually to be seen a couple of steps behind Karen carrying something.

Professor Tim Orchard

Three Imperial academics recognised in King’s Birthday Honours list

Three academics from Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine have also been honoured in the King’s Birthday Honours list.

Professor Tim Orchard, Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Professor of Gastroenterology in Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, receives a CBE for services to the NHS and healthcare research and innovation.

Professor Stephen Brett, Professor of Critical Care in the Faculty of Medicine, receives an MBE for services to critical illness and intensive care medicine.

Dr Niall Keenan, Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine, receives an OBE for services to the NHS.

Professor Orchard has been Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust since 2018. The Trust includes most of the hospitals we in west London might go to: Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea, St Mary’s and the Western Eye Hospital.

The Trust also operates a growing portfolio of satellite community and diagnostic centres across the area.

‘Under his leadership, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has extended its long-standing reputation for excellence in research, safety and outcomes’, says Imperial College, ‘while addressing significant operational and financial issues, enabling the Trust to become a consistent top performer in the NHS oversight framework rankings’.