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14 January 2025
Once again staff working within King’s Health Partners have been recognised in the New Year Honours.
The Honours award the unsung heroes who have made outstanding contributions to their communities across the UK.
More than 1,200 recipients received honours this year across all sectors, including role models in sport, healthcare, academia and voluntary service.
Recognition for KHP Clinical Academic Group (CAG) co-leader
He was recognised for his personal service to the monarch and the royal family. Alongside working at the Trust, he was appointed The King’s Physician in 2022 and provides care for the Royal Family.
Since starting at the Trust in 1994, Prof Leach has been clinical director for both acute (integrated care) and pulmonary and critical care medicine. Alongside his clinical duties, he also has enthusiastically supported medical and nursing education, and was appointed an honorary professor of medicine at King’s College London in 2022. He said:
I have worked at the Trust for over 30 years. During this time, it has been a privilege to care for so many patients, help train numerous junior colleagues, and make many lifelong friendships.
Emeritus Professor receives Damehood
Based in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, she was pivotal in developing the Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (DAFNE) patient education programme, reducing diabetes emergencies and cost of emergency care by more than 60% leading to a cost-effective standard of care across the UK, Ireland, and internationally. She said:
This honour has come as a complete surprise to me – of course I am delighted. So much of what I have been able to achieve has been in collaboration with amazing colleagues and this award honours them too.
One of the great joys of an academic career lies in the truly extraordinary people you meet. But to receive the honour for services to people with diabetes is at once heartwarming and humbling. They are the true heroes in the diabetes story and if I have been able to make things a little better for some of them, that is an honour indeed.
Vice President for Research & Innovation knighted
He is internationally recognised by both academia and industry for his significant and sustained research contributions over 30 years to energy-efficient computing and semiconductor chip design and their practical implementation.
His research and technology transfer has driven significant advancements in hardware and software technologies for digital electronic devices, including smartphones. His research has won numerous national and international awards, the most recent being the IET’s (The Institution of Engineering and Technology) most prestigious award, the Faraday Medal, in 2020. He said:
I have always wanted to emphasise engineering as a profession and champion the importance of engineering skills. I am truly honoured and deeply humbled to be knighted for services to engineering and education.
This distinction recognises the key role the engineering profession plays each and every day in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges and the growing importance of engineers’ skills and achievements to shape a better future for us all.
Nomination for life peerage
The accolade highlights Prof Rafferty’s exceptional contributions to nursing, healthcare, and policy over the course of her remarkable career. She said:
I am deeply honoured to receive this recognition, being a nurse has afforded me an incredibly privileged career. It has tested me to the utmost of my abilities and stretched me in directions I could never dream of. It's high-powered, high pressured and I’ve met the most incredible people along the way, people that I share this recognition with today. Nursing and healthcare are team efforts, and this honour reflects the collective impact we can make together.
CBE for Professor of Epidemiology
She has been with King’s College London since 2004, and is Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Psychological Medicine. She is also a Director of the Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre, and Academic Advisor to the Office for Veterans’ Affairs within the Ministry of Defence.
Prof Fear is one of the Principal Investigators on the KCMHR military cohort study and leads several studies looking at the impact of military service on families. Over twenty years, the KCMHR cohort study remains the key longitudinal source of data informing the UK Government and voluntary sector policies and service provision along with leading the way in academic research. She said:
I am delighted and very honoured to receive this award, and I want to especially thank my team – I could not have achieved this without them. I feel privileged to be able to work with the Armed Forces Community, and I look forward to continuing this work over the coming years.
OBE for Head of Clinical Neuropathy
He is a distinguished figure in the field of neuropathology, recognised globally for his contributions to the understanding of neurological diseases, including dementia, neurodegeneration, traumatic brain injury and brain tumours. His ground-breaking work has had a profound impact on both clinical practice and research, particularly in advancing comprehension of brain pathology. He said:
The news of an OBE came completely out of the blue. I am both surprised and delighted to receive this honour, which I feel is not only for me but for everyone in the Department of Clinical Neuropathology and brain bank at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and King’s Neuroscience centre.
MBE for services to dentistry
Over her 35-year career she has contributed to dentistry care locally and across the UK.
At the Trust, she has held multiple roles, including clinical director of the dental service. Dr Shirlaw played a key role in transforming outpatient care at the Trust, leading on the development of Gassiot House, an outpatient centre at St Thomas’ Hospital. She was also responsible for developing the local anaesthetic allergy service, ensuring patients’ anaesthetic is personalised to them, resulting in safer surgery. She said:
It was a tremendous honour to receive this award. I have dedicated my career to the NHS, and the progress being made in dental and oral health care across the UK has been made possible by the support of wonderful colleagues along the way.
MBE for consultant neurosurgeon
His expertise in brain tumour surgery, as well as deep brain stimulation for conditions including movement disorders, are recognised nationally and internationally, attracting patients for treatment, peer requests for opinions and fellows for training from all around the world. He said:
In life, I have only ever done things because I felt they needed to be done. It is, however, very comforting and joyful to be acknowledged. To receive such an Honour is truly beyond my expectations and fills me with immense pride and gratitude.
MBE for Professor of Psychology
Her work on eating disorders and autism spectrum disorders in women helped to develop the pioneering PEACE pathway. In 2024, she was the first psychologist to receive the prestigious National Award of Georgia. She said:
It is both a delight and an honour to be recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the community I have served, my colleagues, students, the large research and clinical teams, and my family for all their support over the years.
I am also deeply grateful to the nominators who took the time to put me forward. Although I do not know their names, I am incredibly thankful for their kindness. I look forward to continuing to work hard and collaborate with great people. I have been blessed with fantastic opportunities since moving to the UK 28 years ago, and I hope to make further contributions to both academic and clinical psychology.
MBE for Professor of Earth Observation Science
He joined the Department of Geography in 1998 on a lectureship funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Earth Observation Science Initiative (one of four such lectureships awarded nationally in the UK).
He is currently working on the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, in partnership with Imperial College London, Royal Holloway and the University of Reading.
BEM for student
Rebecca Clarke, second-year Biomedical Engineering student, was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for her dedication to voluntary and advisory work with young people's disability organisations, including Ambitious about Autism.
