Dame Susan Lesley Hill (born 14 April 1955) has been the Chief Scientific Officer for England since October 2002.

Professional and academic background

BirminghamQueenElizabethHospitalMedicalSchool

Hill's professional background is as a

healthcare scientist A healthcare scientist or medical scientist is a scientist working in any of a number of health related disciplines. Healthcare scientists may work directly for health service providers, or in academia or industry. Healthcare scientists typically r ...

in the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(NHS) specialising in respiratory medicine. She gained a PhD degree in Respiratory Sciences having undertaken a programme of basic science research into the pathogenesis of chronic lung disease at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. She spent three decades at what is now

University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands. The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston ( ...

and as an academic at the

University of Birmingham Medical School The University of Birmingham Medical School is one of Britain's largest and oldest medical schools with over 400 medical, 70 pharmacy, 140 biomedical science and 130 nursing students graduating each year. It is based at the University of Birmi ...

. She has a personal Chair in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Birmingham. After earning her doctorate in pulmonary pathophysiology, she was active in basic and translational research and clinical trials, working with collaborators in the US and Europe, and trained a variety of medical and scientific staff while still providing direct care for patients.

Work within the respiratory community

Hill is Vice-President of the

British Lung Foundation Asthma + Lung UK (formally Asthma and Lung UK) is a British charity based in London, England. It focuses on respiratory health, in particular asthma and lung disease. The organisation was formed in January 2020 as Asthma UK and the British Lung ...

having had a long association with the charity since its formation in the early 1980s. She also established the major international conference for

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by chronic respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. GOLD defines COPD as a heterogeneous lung condition characterized by chronic respiratory s ...

, the biennial COPD conference series, with Professor Robert Stockley of Birmingham University. The two are directors of the conference, which was held in June 2012 in Birmingham.

Department of Health

Hill first started work on initiatives for the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

in the 1990s and led the development of the UK National Occupational Standards for healthcare science. She was appointed to the role of Chief Scientific Officer for England in 2002. In addition to her role as Chief Scientific Officer, Hill is also Joint National Clinical Director for Respiratory Disease at the Department of Health, leading the DH work to improve respiratory care in the NHS.

NHS England

Hill was appointed as the first Chief Scientific Officer for

NHS England NHS England, formally the NHS Commissioning Board for England, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning si ...

in February 2013, with the role transferring from the Department of Health following the NHS reforms of 2012. Her role involves providing leadership to the

healthcare science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences – those sciences that focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple a ...

profession and expert clinical advice across the entire English health system as well as working with senior clinical leaders both within the NHS England and the broader health commissioning system. She is Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for Genomics at NHS England and also SRO for the Home Oxygen Programme

Honours

She was appointed an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 2005 Queens' Birthday Honours. She is also an honorary fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

. She was subsequently made a Dame Commander of the same

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

in the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours " r services to the 100,000 Genome Project and to NHS Genomic Medicine". In 2019 Prof Dame Sue Hill was conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree by

Staffordshire University The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...

for her leadership of the scientific workforce within the NHS, her establishment of the CSO WISE Fellowship programme, and her leadership of the 100 000 Genome Project. She was also awarded an honorary doctorate from the

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

in 2019.

References

External links

Sue Hill biography at NHS EnglandSue's Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Sue NHS Chief Professional Officers Healthcare science in the United Kingdom British civil servants British medical researchers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Birmingham 1955 births Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire