Professor Penney Lewis joins UK research ethics panel

Professor Penney Lewis, an expert in medical law in The Dickson Poon School of Law, has been invited to become a member of the Health Research Agency’s National Research and Ethics Advisors' Panel (NREAP).

Professor Lewis’, along with three other colleagues from other faculties at the university, took up her place on the 50-member panel on 1 March 2017.

The National Research Ethics Advisors’ Panel is an independent, multidisciplinary expert panel hosted by the NHS Health Research Authority (HRA). The panel’s main objective is to help research ethics committees (RECs) to deliver robust, consistent and fair decisions through engagement and consultation with stakeholders with an interest in health research. NREAP inform and deliver appropriate and transparent ethics guidance and training to RECs and the wider research community.

Panel members are drawn from a wide range of expertise relevant to the remit of the HRA, which protects and promotes the interests of patients and the public in health and social care research. Academics working in the areas of research ethics, consent and regulation sit on the panel alongside representatives from industry, research ethics committee members, bioethicists and researchers.

On being invited to sit on the panel, Professor Lewis said: ‘I am pleased to bring the research ethics experience I gained at King's as a member and Vice-Chair of the College Research Ethics Committee to NREAP. My work as a Member of the Human Tissue Authority includes oversight of research involving human tissue, and I look forward to expanding my knowledge and experience of research across the NHS.’

Commenting on Professor Lewis’ appointment, Acting Executive Dean Professor Ben Bowling said: ‘I am delighted that Penney has been invited to become a member of NREAP and have no doubt the panel will benefit enormously from the knowledge and experience she has to offer. Penney’s wide-ranging work in the field of medical law and ethics has helped to establish The Dickson Poon School of Law is a key reference point in this area and her appointment is an example of how highly her expertise is regarded in the health research community.’

You can find out more about NREAP on the Health Research Authority website.

Further information about Professor Penney Lewis is available on her profile webpage.