St Andrews Dean of Medicine to be new Chief Scientist Health

‌‌Professor David Crossman, currently Dean and Head of the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews, is to be the new Chief Scientist for Health with the Scottish Government.

Professor Crossman will take up post on 1 November 2017. He will be seconded to the Scottish Government post two days per week and will remain Dean of Medicine and Head of School at St Andrews.

Professor Crossman succeeds Professor Andrew Morris, who stood down from the Chief Scientist role in July.

Professor Crossman said: “It is a great privilege to have been asked to take on this role, which oversees and funds research in the NHS in Scotland. It is a very exciting time to take this over. The life sciences strategy for this country will rely very heavily on the NHS being configured to undertake high quality research. In addition, having an active programme of research within the whole of NHS in Scotland will allow for the best quality of evidence for, and evaluation of, the changes that will be required for the NHS to deal with the problems of its population. I am looking forward to working with others in Scotland to deliver on these important issues.”

Professor David Crossman qualified in medicine in 1982 from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. He undertook postgraduate clinical training in London and Birmingham, joining the Hammersmith Hospital in 1985 as registrar (Clinical Pharmacology and Cardiology). In 1987 he was an MRC Clinical Training and then senior registrar (Cardiology) in 1990. In 1994 he became the first Professor of Clinical Cardiology at the University of Sheffield. In 2007, the group he led was awarded an NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, of which he became Director. In 2008, he became head of a university department at the University of Sheffield.

In 2011 Professor Crossman became Dean of Norwich Medical School at the University of East Anglia and in 2014 moved to Scotland with his family and took up the post of Dean of Medicine at the University of St Andrews. During all of his professorial appointments he has remained a practising honorary consultant cardiologist. His research interest is in the inflammatory basis of coronary artery disease.

St Andrews has an in-house ISDN line for radio and a Globelynx camera for TV interviews. To arrange an interview please contact the Communications Office in the first instance on 01334 46 2530 or via [email protected].

Issued by the University of St Andrews Communications Office.