Clinical programme group directors

In this section you can find brief biographies of our clinical programme group (CPG) directors.

	Professor Nick Cheshire CPG director – Circulation sciences and renal medicine Nick is professor of vascular surgery at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and honorary consultant surgeon at The Royal Brompton and Great Ormond Street hospitals. Prior to his appointment he was lecturer in surgery at Imperial College London. He has been head of clinical quality at St Mary's Hospital and director of the North West Thames-St Mary's surgical training programme. Externally he is treasurer of the British Society for Endoluminal Therapy, council member of the Society of Academic and Research Surgeons and a member of the topic selection panel at NICE. His clinical and research interests include the application of new technologies to complex arterial disease to improve outcome, particularly by stent grafting, improvements in imaging, robotics and the biology of endoluminal therapies.
	Professor Martin Wilkins CPG director – Clinical and investigative sciences Martin is professor of clinical pharmacology and head of the Division of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College. He is the director of the Sir John McMichael Centre for clinical research at Hammersmith Hospital. He has a long-standing interest in developing new medicines for patients. He has a particular interest in pulmonary hypertension, an uncommon disease with few approved treatments. Clinical and Investigative Sciences hosts the directorates of Radiology, Pathology, Clinical Haematology, Pharmacy, Therapies and the Sir John McMichael Centre.
	Dr Julian Redhead CPG director – Medicine Julian is a consultant in adult emergency medicine with an interest in paediatric emergency medicine. He trained at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School and was appointed to a Consultant Job at Ealing Hospital. Later he had a part time role in the paediatric emergency department of St Mary’s Hospital, moving full time in 2005. He also has an interest in Sports Medicine. He sits on the Council for the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, representing the College of Emergency Medicine, and the Training Committee for Sports and Exercise Medicine. He is Deputy Chairman for the London Board for the College of Emergency Medicine. He is involved as secretary to the charity of the British Association of Immediate Care for London.
	Dr Mark Palazzo CPG director – Specialist services Mark qualified in Bristol in 1975 and had clinical training in medicine, anaesthesia and critical care in Oxford and St Bartholomew’s, London. He spent a further 3 years as an MRC research training fellow in Oxford, and 2 years in research posts in the universities of Geneva and Calgary in Canada. He was appointed as a senior lecturer at Royal London Hospital Medical School in 1991 before being appointed as senior lecturer and director of critical care at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School 1992. In 1994 he was appointed chief of service for critical care for Hammersmith Hospitals NHS trust and in 2008 appointed chief of service for critical care anaesthesia and theatres for Imperial College NHS trust.
	Justin Vale CPG director – Surgery and cancer Justin graduated from the Middlesex Hospital medical school in 1984 and took his general surgical training at St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Southend General. He underwent his higher urological training in west London and was appointed consultant urological surgeon with an interest in urological cancer at St Marys NHS Trust in 1994. Since then he has introduced many new techniques to improve the quality of life of patients with urological cancer, including robotic prostatectomy. Justin is the lead clinician for urology and service director for surgery at St Mary’s Hospital and spent seven years as deputy clinical director for the surgery, critical care and cardiovascular sciences directorate. Externally he currently chairs the urology tumour working group within the West London Cancer Network.
	Keith Edmonds CPG director – Women’s and children’s Keith has been a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at Queen Charlottes and Chelsea Hospital (QCCH) since 1982 and became clinical director in 1994. During that time he has overseen the move of QCCH from its old site in Chiswick to a newly designed, purpose-built hospital on the Hammersmith campus. His major clinical interest is in congenital abnormalities of the genital tract and his unit has National Specialist Commissioning Advisory Group recognition.