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A British healthcare professional specialising in influenza, including its epidemiology, transmission, vaccinology, antiviral drugs and pandemic preparedness. After hospital work he was involved variously as a university lecturer and within the pharmaceutical industry. Van-Tam then became a Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England. In this capacity, he gained nationwide visibility during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, he was appointed to the expert advisory group for the UK Government's Vaccine Taskforce. He is currently Senior Strategy Advisor in Medicine at the University of Nottingham.

Lord Darzi is an academic surgeon and holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London, specialising in the field of minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery, having pioneered many new techniques and technologies. He is co-director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation and the NIHR Imperial Patient Safety Translational Research Centre at Imperial College London. He has become strongly identified with trying to change the National Health Service (NHS) in England and is recognised internationally as an advocate for applying innovative reforms to health systems globally.

Sir David’s time as chief executive has been successful in obtaining foundation trust status for the organisation and overseeing the acquisition of Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital.

His career in healthcare management is predominantly in the NHS, although he worked in the private healthcare sector. He is among London’s longest-serving hospital chief executives.