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21 November 2019

Queen's Anniversary Prize 2019 awarded to King's School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences

The School was tonight awarded the prestigious prize.

King's College London School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences awarded Queen's Anniversary Prize

The School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s has today been awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher and further education. This award is granted by The Queen every two years for outstanding work that delivers tangible benefits to the public.

President and Principal of King's, Professor Ed Byrne said one of the greatest privileges a university has is to see the profound impact it can create for society.

“The School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences makes a vital contribution to our overall Vision of educating and equipping students with the skills and knowledge to be able to contribute to society on a global scale, addressing key challenges and stimulating economic growth. The School’s world changing research will improve health outcomes for many people.”

Professor Ed Byrne, President and Principal of King’s College London

With over 550 staff from a range of disciplines, the School is composed of six multidisciplinary departments, five strategic research Centres, as well as clinical and corporate partners. It also benefits from the King’s Health Partnership, which brings together education, research and clinical practice within NHS Trusts. The School is fully embedded at St Thomas’ Hospital which supports the development of innovative medical technologies with a short translation period.

Vice President & Vice-Principal (Research) at King's, Professor Reza Razavi said a key factor to the School’s success is its multidisciplinary and highly collaborative nature. 

“Our unique research environment is strengthened by dedicated colleagues across the School who excel in producing research and technology with purpose."

“Our goal is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of all patients and ensure they receive the very best care. Our critical contribution to that is by developing state-of-the-art medical technology, based on strong patient-focused research."

Vice President & Vice-Principal (Research) King's College London, Professor Reza Razavi

“There are many great examples. These include improving the care of cancer patients through innovative medical imaging to ensure the most effective treatments, guiding key-hole cardiac therapies using advanced intraoperative imaging, and using MRI to improve the diagnosis of congenital problems in pregnancy.”

Head of School, Professor Sebastien Ourselin said: “We can only build from this honourable milestone. It validates our direction for the School, from the establishment of the MedTech Hub, London Institute for Healthcare Engineering, London Medical Imaging & Artificial Intelligence Centre for Value Based Healthcare (AI4VBH) and our new Department of Surgical and Interventional Engineering.

“Significant investment and collocation of industry within our St Thomas’ campus provides us with a faster commercial pathway which will continue to have a transformative impact on society at a global scale.”

Professor Sebastien Ourselin, Head of School

Sir Damon Buffini, Chairman of the Royal Anniversary Trust said entries in the scheme are invited in any subject area and are subjected to rigorous independent assessment in a process managed by the Royal Anniversary Trust. Recommendations for the Queen’s approval are made on the prime minister’s advice. 

“The criteria are demanding and look for outstanding excellence in the chosen field, for innovation and for evidence of real public benefit. Competition is strong and the award is a mark of high quality in education and training which is widely recognised internationally as well as in the UK.”

Sir Damon Buffini, Chairman of the Royal Anniversary Trust

In this story

Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng

Professor of Healthcare Engineering

Reza photo

Vice President (Research)

Professor Sir Edward Byrne AC

Former President & Principal of King's College London