Reappointment of chief executive for the Medical Research Council

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts today (18th March 2013) announced the reappointment of Professor Sir John Savill as chief executive and deputy chair of the Medical Research Council (MRC).  The appointment is until 30 September 2014. Professor Sir John Savill, a clinician scientist from Edinburgh, began his first term as chief executive and deputy chair of the MRC on 1 October 2010 for an initial three year period. He was a member of the MRC Council from 2002 to 2008 and chaired two MRC Research Boards during this period.  Between 2008 and 2010 John worked part-time as the chief scientist for the Scottish Government Health Directorates. He was knighted in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List for services to clinical science.

John started his research career with a degree in Physiological Sciences from Oxford University in 1978, followed by degrees in Medicine at the University of Sheffield in 1981. He received a PhD from the University of London in 1989.

After junior hospital appointments in Sheffield, Nottingham and London, he spent seven years in the Department of Medicine at Hammersmith Hospital with spells as an MRC clinical training fellow and Wellcome Trust senior clinical research fellow.

In 1993, he moved to the chair of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, then in 1998 became professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he was the first director of the University of Edinburgh/MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, directing a group interested in the molecular cell biology of renal inflammation.

In 2002, John was appointed as the first vice-principal and head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh. He retains an ongoing, research active involvement with the University of Edinburgh part-time throughout his appointment as MRC chief executive.

The MRC is dedicated to improving human health through world-class medical research. It supports research across the biomedical spectrum, from fundamental lab-based science to clinical trials, and in all major disease areas. More information about MRC can be found at www.mrc.ac.uk.