Sir Terence John Stephenson, (born December 1957) is a Northern Irish consultant paediatric doctor and chair of the Health Research Authority (HRA). He is also the Nuffield Professor of Child Health at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(UCL) and chair of

NHS Providers NHS Providers is the membership organisation for NHS trusts in England, which takes part in negotiations between the trusts and the Department of Health and provides development support to trust leaders. Until 2011, the body was a section of th ...

Early life

He was born in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He was educated at

Larne Grammar School Larne Grammar School is a co-educational voluntary grammar school located in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1886 by Sir Edward Coey and John Crawford, it has around 760 Student, pupils and 50 teaching staff. History The sch ...

. He attended the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

Career

Stephenson was dean of the Medical School and Professor of Child Health at the University of Nottingham from 2003 to 2009. In 2009 he became the Nuffield Professor of Child Health at

UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (ICH) is an academic department of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1946 and together ...

. He was President of the

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, often referred to as the RCPCH, is the professional body for paediatricians (doctors specialising in child health) in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the postgraduate training of pa ...

from April 2009 until May 2012; in 2011 the college published ten national standards, ''Facing the Future: Standards for Paediatric Services''. This was the first time the college committed to a set of standards for all children receiving inpatient care or assessment across the UK. He then took up the role of chair of the

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) is the coordinating body for the United Kingdom and Ireland's 23 Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties. It ensures that patients are safely and properly cared for by setting standards for the way doct ...

in July 2012. He became a member of the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of physician, medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the pu ...

in 2009. In September 2014 it was announced that he would become the chair of the GMC, succeeding

Peter Rubin Sir Peter Charles Rubin (born 21 November 1948) is a doctor and was the Chair of the General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom from 2009–2014. A consultant physician and professor of therapeutics at the University of Nottingham sinc ...

on 1 January 2015. In October 2014 it was announced that he had been appointed as a panel member for the Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. In September 2019 he was appointed chair of the Health Research Authority, succeeding Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery. In April 2020 he was appointed as a vice-president of

The Academy of Experts The Academy of Experts (TAE; formerly the British Academy of Experts) is a UK legal institute for expert witnesses. It was founded in 1987 with the objective of providing a professional body for experts to establish and promote high objective standa ...

. He has co-authored textbooks, written invited chapters and editorials, and published more than 150

peer-review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed papers in

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

s. He has been described as leading by example. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Stephenson researched the effects of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on British teenagers in a study named CLoCk (Children & young people with Long Covid). Since February 2025, he has been the chair of

Awards and honours

By March 2016, ten honorary fellowships had been bestowed on Stephenson from colleges in the UK, Ireland, Hong Kong and Australia. In November 2014 he received an honorary fellowship from the

Royal College of General Practitioners The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs/ Family Physicians/ Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including ...

. In May 2015 he was elected a fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine. Stephenson was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

for services to Healthcare and Children's Health Services.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Terence Living people British paediatricians 21st-century British medical doctors People educated at Larne Grammar School Academics of University College London Knights Bachelor Recipients of the James Spence Medal 1957 births Chairs of the General Medical Council Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Honorary Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Honorary Fellows of the Academy of Medical Educators Presidents of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health