Professor Neville Punchard PhD, CBiol, FRSB, FIMLS, FIBMS, FHEA, MIoD
Dean of Health, Sport & Bioscience
Health, Sport and Bioscience
I have held the position of Dean of the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience since 2007, during which time the School has gone from strength to strength and is one of, if not, the most successful at UEL.
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AE.5.05
School of Health, Sport & Bioscience
University of East London
Water Lane
London
E15 4LZ - n.punchard@uel.ac.uk 020 8223 4477
A Dean of one, if not, the largest and most successful Schools at UEL, my role includes: providing strategic team leadership and management of academic, research, service and support staff in a large and diverse School that includes; bioscience and sport subjects amongst others, including health programmes; has increasing research, NSS and other outcomes. My School leads in the University in terms of: student experience, NSS, research income and financial profitability/viability. In addition to managing academic, administrative and technical staff I have also managed the University’s Director of Sport, the University’s Director of Olympic and Paralympic Operations and a community sports partnership hosted by the School. I am also actively involved in developing our international recruitment, e.g., Malaysia, Vietnam, China, India and other countries. The School now has programmes in physiotherapy, biomedical science and sports delivered in Greece for example.
I am also the Chair the University’s Research Ethics Committee and sign off as sponsor all the University’s NHS and social care IRAS/NHS REC applications. I regularly chair various University staff and student disciplinary committees. In the past I have also chaired the University’s Sports and Physical Activity Development Group, the Stratford Estates Groups and a wide range of staff and student investigatory and complaint panels. I also chair the usual range of School exam and management committees. In total, I have chaired or, as appropriate, been a member of over 200 internal and external appointment panels, ranging from those for junior lecturing or support posts through to those for Professors/DScs, Deans/Directors and PVC/VCs.
I also have contributed to the University through membership of other University committees and groups including; Research Review; RAE Review Group (2007-2008); Post-graduate Degree Committee; Union Consultation and Negotiation; Annual Planning Monitoring; Data Quality; Educational partnerships; Foundation degrees; External Partnerships and “improving the student experience”; Student bursaries; New Management Structures;. League Tables; Pandemic working group, and Regional Partnerships. As Dean I am a member of the usual University senior management and School committees, etc. I have also played a part in the University’s Estates Development through membership of the University’s: Estates Strategy working/ Implementation Groups; Stratford Development Group and New Build Projects Boards for major building projects, including a Library, Computing and Conference Centre and Sports Centre.
I have maintained and developed external networking through direct contact with a wide range of organisations including: Professional bodies, such as the Society of Biology, Science Council and various Council of Deans; NHS bodies and local partners in Newham and Hackney; Newham Council, and a number of City of London Livery Societies. These include local School and Colleges, for example: I had a joint appointment funded by “Linking London” which has resulted in 6-8 progression agreements in the past; I have sponsored local college sports teams, and academic scholarships for local schools and Colleges. I have also developed good working relations with the NHS and sit on several London-wide NHS committees, i.e. London Higher, London Health Deans Group and have sat on the Central & East London Comprehensive Local Research Network. We were the original host to the Allied Health Professions Placement Management Agency for London for the last three years. During the period leading up to the games I also developed links with: London Development Agency (incl. Visit/Think London); Podium; British Paralympic Association; British Olympic Association; British Amateur Swimming Association; The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games; Sport England through Proactive East and the local Community Sport Partnership Activity Network.
I have many years’ experience in quality assurance, professional; accreditation, critical review development, delivery, enhancement and assessment of courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. I regularly chair, or act in senior capacity as external member of, validation panels and exam boards, for University and partner institutions. I have also been involved in QAA style and professional accreditation subject or departmental reviews at my own and other institutions, and generally been involved in QA. I have been undergraduate external examiner for 2 Universities, Post-Graduate External examiner for 3 universities for taught programmes and for 3 universities for research programmes. I was also a member of the Advisory Panel for Biology Benchmarking Committee. Currently, I am a member of the following relevant University Committees; Quality and Standards Committee (QSC); Postgraduate Review Committee, and Academic board. I also regularly Chair School Exam boards and PhD Progress reviews. I have chaired various Faculty Research and postgraduate committees; led on QA training of post-graduate students and been a member of various University Research committees.
Elected Fellow of the:
- Society of Biology
- Institute of Biomedical Science
- Higher Education Academy
Member of:
- Institute of Directors,
- Worshipful Company of Needlemakers
i. Elected Fellow of the: Society of Biology; Royal Society of Medicine; Institute of Biomedical Science, and the Higher Education Academy.
ii. Member of the following external committees:
- Science Council’s Vocational Qualifications Committee.
- Society of Biology: London Branch Board; Professional Registration Committee, and regular Accreditation Panel Member.
- International Association of Inflammation Societies (IAIS), inc.: Steering committee for the bi-annual meeting, "Inflammation' 95”, Inflammation 2001, and 2017, and IAIS committee.
- British Inflammation Research Association (BIRAs): Academic Committee Member (from 1993); Secretary (1994 to ‘02); Newsletter Editor (from 1994-1998); Vice-Chair & Web Site Creator and Manager (from 2001); Institute of Biology Representative (from 1998).
- London Higher Healthcare Education Group; London Deans for Health (’07+); NE London HIEC bid group (2009+); Central & East London Comprehensive Local Research Board (’08-‘11); LETB Transition Board and UCL Partners.
iii. Other:
- Judging at the National Science & Engineering Competition (NSEC) at The Big Bang, Birmingham
- Previous member of research grants committees: Scholl Fund (local charity; 2007-2010) and St Thomas Special Trustees (‘89-92).
- Previously: Parish Councillor (2000– 02) and Local Authority School Governor for two Schools.
iv. Editorial roles: Editorial Board of; Journal of Inflammation; Journal of Occupational Medicine & Toxicology (2005+); Current Opinion in Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Investigational Drugs (1999-2006); International Drugs database (ID) Research Alerts (1997-8).v. Membership of Societies/Groups: Institute of Directors (‘11+); Society of Biology (‘12+); Council of Deans for Health (’07+); UK Council of Deans for Science (’07+); British Inflammatory Research Association (92+); Heads of University Centres for Biomedical Science (2002+); Heads of University Biological Sciences (2002+); Biochemical Society (1983-2014); British Society for Immunology (1983-2014); Committee on Publication Ethics (2004-2008).
vi. Grant Reviewer for: MRC; The Scholl Fund; Broad Medical Research Program, California, USA; Lottery Community Funds; Telethon Foundation (Italian); Anglian and Oxford Regional Health Authority; St Bartholomew’s Hospital Joint Research Board, The Special Trustees of St Thomas’ Hospital,.
vii. Journal Reviewer, for example for: Life Science; Journal of Inflammation; Marine drugs; Acta Biochimica Polonica; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Nature group); Inflammation Research; Lupus; Endocrinology and Metabolism; Current Drugs ID Alerts; British Journal of Pharmacology; Drugs, Gut; Current Opinion in Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Investigational Drugs; Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
viii. Media Presentations: Chinese Radio and Independent TV interviews at London House and the Media Centre during the Beijing 2008 Games; Local radio interview on cell division and reproduction (Jan 24th, 2007). 1998 Luton & Dunstable Herald & Post: Interview on dangers of GM foods. Anglia Television Live News Broadcast: Expert comment on use of DNA fingerprinting to identify father of abandoned baby. 1999. Local radio 10-minute debate broadcast as part of Science Week in 1996.
ix. Other presentations: To David Willets, Minister of State for Universities and Science, and the London Mayor’s Office, in support of Business and Innovation Centre in Dagenham, Nov. 2012, and Biomedical Science Careers (Connexions) conference, Univ. Hertfordshire, 2007).
Overview
i. Output: includes over 100; books, book chapters, peer-reviewed papers and conference presentations (separate list available on request).
ii. Institutional & School Research Leadership: Chair of University Ethics Committee (since 2007). Previously; chair/member of several Faculty/School Research Committees; and, as Dean, proactively lead and direct research in the School.
iii. Previously (at the University of Bedfordshire/Luton): member of University and Faculty Research committees; Lead role in Faculty Graduate School and organising residential training sessions and research days, research student recruitment and training; Chair of various faculty/ departmental research QA & review committees; managed and led several research groups in several Departments, (consisting of between 4-7 staff and 2-5 PhDs); research review and policy development at Departmental and Faculty level, and Initiated and developed a University-wide MSc by Research.
iv. RAE: Lead role/ written, or made major input to 4 RAE/REF submissions, 2 at University of Bedfordshire & 2 at University of East London, one of the latter resulting in being placed 32nd out of 72 submissions in UoA 12 (Allied Health Professions and Studies), with an average score of 2.05 (above sector average), placing us in the top 3 Universities overall in London.
v. Current research interests: commercial exploitation of research; undertaking biomedical research into cell signalling, free radicals and the immune system in inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, and during cellular and physiological stress; investigating an in vitro model of granuloma formation. Previously I have been involved in other areas of biomedical science research through PhD supervision and other collaboration including inflammation of the skin, pregnancy and alcoholic liver diseases.
vi. Previous funding Sources: South East Thames Regional Health authority; University of London; The Special Trustees of St Thomas' Hospital; National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease (NACC); Peel Medical Research Trust; Lambeth Endowed Charities; Astra Foundation; G.D. Searle; Paterson Charitable Trust; HEFCE (RAE); Biochemical Society and Yakult. While at St Thomas’ I was twice short-listed for Welcome Senior Fellowships and had an Medical Research Council application rated as a+.
vii. International Meetings Organised & Chaired
- Organising Committee for IAIS bi-annual meeting, Inflammation' 2017.
- Chairing Session on: The Role of Inflammation in Exercise, International Convention on Science, Education & Medicine in Sport, Glasgow, July 2012
-Chaired workshop on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at Inflammation' 2001, Edinburgh, Sept. 2001. (Attendance of 500).
-IAIS bi-annual meeting, Inflammation' 95, Brighton Sept. 1995. (Attendance of 800). Organised and chaired workshop on: Skin and Gastrointestinal Inflammation.
viii. National Meetings Organised & Chaired:
-Signalling in inflammatory & immune cells: cell surface to nucleus. Annual congress of the British Society for Immunology (BSI), Harrogate, 2004.
-Nutrition and Inflammation. 9th Annual congress of the BSI, Harrogate, 2001.
-The Endothelium and Inflammation. 7th Annual congress of the BSI joint with the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology Harrogate, Nov. 30th- 3rd, 1999.
-Chemokines (joint BIRAs session at BSI Annual Congress, Harrogate 1998).
-Stroke and Neurodegenerative Diseases, St Thomas’ Hospital, Dec. 1st, 1995.
-Cellular and Molecular Aspects of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, St Thomas’ Hospital, Nov., 1992
ix. I have supervised over 14 research students to completion, 11 as 1st supervisor (Please note, these figures do not include 2-4 MD students, the supervision of which I was responsible for at St Thomas’ Hospital); I have acted as Examiner for a total of 7 research students and Chair of PhD Examinations for 2 or more. I have also: been a member of numerous MSc validation panels (University & Faculty level) for other Departments and Faculties; led on the introduction and validation of a new MSc by Research for the University of Luton; management of same programme within the same Faculty.