The Faculty of Health and Medicine is hosting inaugural lectures by three Honorary Clinical Chairs.

An inaugural lecture is a distinguished academic event, providing a unique opportunity for newly appointed Professors to share their pioneering research, highlight their achievements in research, innovation, engagement, and teaching, and showcase the societal impact of their work.

The lectures are by Professor Ailsa Brotherton, Director of Improvement, Research and Innovation at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Professor Mark Spencer, a local GP and founder of Healthier Fleetwood and Chair of Fleetwood Trust, and Professor Vishnu Chandrabalan, Consultant Surgeon and Head of Data Science at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Professor Ailsa Brotherton – May 1 https://lancaster-uk.libcal.com/event/4364260

Professor Brotherton is Director of Improvement, Research and Innovation at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTHFT) and the Improvement Director for NHS IMPACT and the National Improvement Board.

She is also a member of the National Frailty Board. As a national expert in quality improvement, she has been instrumental in supporting the strategic discussions and priority setting between FHM and the Trust executives. Ailsa will explore in this lecture opportunities for collaborative working as the adoption of NHS IMPACT, the national framework for improvement and develop a systems thinking approach to deliver key strategic priorities, including Frailty.

Professor Mark Spencer - May 8 https://lancaster-uk.libcal.com/event/4364261

Professor Spencer has been a GP in Fleetwood for over 30 years and is passionate about addressing health inequalities. He has been involved in various initiatives to improve access to healthcare and promote healthy living, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Notably, he is a founder and volunteer for Healthier Fleetwood, as well as being a Trustee and Chair of Fleetwood Trust, a charity re-purposing the former Fleetwood Hospital into a vibrant Community Hub.

He has worked with colleagues in Lancaster Medical School helping to decipher the impact of COVID-19 on the health and wellbeing of Fleetwood community. He has also had input into the re-design of the medical school curriculum to offer an increased focus on community-based care, disease prevention and the impact of the wider determinants of health.

Professor Vishnu Chandrabalan - July 10 https://lancaster-uk.libcal.com/event/4364858

Professor Chandrabalan is a Consultant Surgeon and Head of Data Science at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He also serves as the Chief Clinical Information Officer for the Lancashire and South Cumbria Secure Data Environment which aims to utilise data to improve health outcomes in the region.

With dual expertise as both a practicing clinician and passionate technologist, he leads multiple large-scale digital initiatives that have transformed healthcare data utilisation for research across the region. His team have established one of NHS's first Kubernetes-based research and analytics environments and, working closely with Professor Jo Knight, he has extended the collaboration with Lancaster University from data science to research software engineering.

He spearheads the region's data harmonisation efforts for Real World Evidence (RWE), which earned his team the prestigious Health Data Research UK Team of the Year award for their exceptional contribution to healthcare analytics and data standardization. He is a member of the UK's first RWE network as well as the global OHDSI RWE network.

His leadership has secured over £4 million in competitive funding, enabling his team to build critical data and analytics infrastructure that serves both research analytics and operational intelligence.

All three lectures will take place in HI One from 5.30 -7.30pm.