key appointments

17 June 2003

The Brighton and Sussex Medical School, which welcomes its first students in October, has made two senior appointments - Professor Di Watt, Chair of Anatomy and Professor Helen Smith, Chair of Primary Care.

Prof Diana Watt

Professor Watt was previously Reader in Anatomy at the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, where she was closely involved in the design of the School of Medicine's new curriculum and as Deputy Head (Teaching) in the Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine Division co-ordinated all the division's teaching.

Di followed a degree in Developmental Biology at the University of Aberdeen with an SRC PhD studentship investigating the aetiology of spina bifida. Since then her research at Charing Cross, Charing Cross and Westminster, and at Imperial College medical schools has included work on the possible use of donor muscle precursor cells to alleviate primary myopathic conditions and of cell-based therapies to alleviate muscle fibre breakdown in patients with muscular dystrophy.

In studies on stem cells her research group discovered the ability of a multipotent cell in the skin to convert into muscle, a finding which could have immense implications for developing cell-based therapies for the muscular dystrophies. Research in this field is ongoing and will continue in her new post at BSMS.

Professor Watt said, "Being in at the start of a new medical school is a very exciting prospect and I am very much looking forward to contributing to the innovative BSMS undergraduate course. The focus of anatomy at BSMS will be on functional and clinical aspects, taught through a multidisciplinary approach, and it is also my intention to develop strong postgraduate links for the subject."

Prof Helen Smith

Professor Smith was formerly Reader in the University of Southampton's Primary Medical Care Group where she directed the Wessex Research Network. This network has proved highly successful in raising the research awareness and activity of primary care teams throughout Wessex. She has also been closely involved in the setting-up of Southampton's Health Sciences Graduate School.

Nationally, Helen has contributed to the development of the academic discipline of General Practice, has developed initiatives to strengthen research capacity in NHS Primary Care and is an examiner for the Faculty of Public Health Medicine's membership examinations.

A graduate of Nottingham University Medical School, Helen trained in epidemiology and health services research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and at the University of British Columbia. She is accredited in general practice and in public health medicine and has worked in university, hospital and general practice settings in the UK and in Canada.

With clinical interests in musculoskeletal disorders and allergic diseases, Helen's research expertise is in the design of pragmatic, community-based trials of new interventions.

Professor Smith said, "There is lots of scope for involving primary care practitioners in the teaching of our students and I hope that my department will be able to develop strong and productive links with many local general practices."