Professor Ian Jacobs has been appointed as a non-executive director of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which runs Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie hospitals.
Ian is a surgeon, academic and university leader. He recently returned to the UK after seven years in Australia as president and vice chancellor of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, where he led an ambitious strategy to establish UNSW as one of the top 50 universities in the world. Prior to this he was dean of medicine and vice president of the University of Manchester and dean of medicine at University College London.
Ian qualified in medicine at the University of Cambridge and the University of London and trained as an obstetrician and gynaecologist, before specialising as a women’s cancer surgeon at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and University College London Hospital. He has for the last 35 years led a research team working on screening for ovarian cancer which included the UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening.
In 1985 he founded the Eve Appeal charity, which funds research and raises awareness into gynaecological cancers, and in 2005 the Uganda Women’s Health Initiative. He has been president of the British Gynaecological Cancer Society and the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology.
His current roles include chair of the International University Climate Alliance, board member of the African Stem Education Initiative, and non-executive director of Abcodia Ltd, a medical diagnostics company.
Ian succeeds Dr Mike Knapton, a former local GP, who has been a non-executive director of Cambridge University Hospitals since 2013. Mike has also been the board-level Maternity Safety Champion, the chair of the Trust’s Organ Donation Committee and a link trustee on the board of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust.
CUH chair, Dr Mike More, said:
I am delighted to welcome Ian to CUH. His wide range of experience across so many important fields will be a major asset to the board as we face the significant opportunities and challenges that the next few years will bring.
Dr Mike More
“At the same time, I would like to thank and pay tribute to Mike Knapton for his dedicated service to Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie, as well as the wider health and care system in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Mike has been a true advocate and champion for patients and their families.”
Mike, who will maintain close links with the hospitals, added:
I have greatly enjoyed my time as a non-executive director and am proud to have been a part of the Addenbrooke's team. I wish Ian Jacobs and his fellow board members every success for the future.
Dr Mike Knapton
" With the development of the integrated care system and new children’s and cancer hospitals on the horizon, I am confident that CUH will continue to provide the best possible care for patients.”
Ian said:
It is a great privilege to be appointed to the CUH board. I am looking forward to working with colleagues across the hospitals, the Biomedical Campus and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care System to improve health care and health outcomes for the population that we serve.
Professor Ian Jacobs
Ian has been appointed to a three-year term of office by the CUH Council of Governors following a competitive recruitment process. He takes up the position on 6 April 2022.