14 May 2024

Prof Graham Lord, MA MB BChir PhD FRCP FRSB FMedSci, NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus, has been appointed the new Executive Director of King’s Health Partners (KHP).

He will also take on the role as Senior Vice President (Health & Life Sciences) at King's College London. 

In addition, Prof Lord [pictured] will serve as the Chief Academic Officer, a Non-Executive Director role on the Board of Directors at both Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts.

This is a special role with senior responsibilities across four organisations, drawing KHP further together to capitalise on the unique opportunities and synergies of our partnership.

Prof Graham Lord said: 

Healthcare systems across the world are under enormous and increasing pressure. I am convinced that by aligning the strategic direction of all of our partners, we can identify key actions to deliver high quality health and care, driven by research and innovation, in a sustainable way. This would not only be transformational for London and the UK, but also have significant international impact.



Prof Lord is currently the Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health at Manchester University. He is also an Honorary Consultant Transplant Nephrologist at Manchester NHS Foundation Trust and Executive Director of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre.

Prior to joining the University of Manchester in 2019, Prof Lord held the position of Professor of Medicine and Head of the Department of Experimental Immunobiology at King’s College London.

A leading clinician-scientist, Prof Lord trained in Medicine at the University of Cambridge, gained a PhD at Imperial and completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard University. He then established a research group seeking to understand the regulation of the immune system to enhance the treatment of severe inflammatory diseases. His clinical interest is in multi-organ transplantation and the genetics of long-term transplant failure. He has significant commercial expertise, having founded companies in the US that focus on immuno-oncology, infectious diseases and autoimmunity.

Prof Lord’s distinguished health and leadership background and passion for academic healthcare ecosystems will be invaluable in supporting us to realise the unrivalled possibilities for better health that lie across our healthcare, discovery and innovation ecosystem.

Prof Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor & President, King’s College London, said: 

Professor Lord joins King’s and its partners at a critical time for health and medicine in this country. On the one hand new advances in data and technologies provide unprecedented opportunities for health of individuals and populations.
On the other, the difficulties of translating research, pressures on the NHS waiting lists and workforce shortages leave much of this potential untapped. Professor Lord brings a unique experience in translational research, population health and commercial innovation to help lead King’s and its partners lead in these challenging times.