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The Infection Prevention Society (IPS) is delighted to welcome Prof. Sir Jonathan Van-Tam as their new Patron

As of the 1 May 2023, Jonathan Van-Tam has been appointed as Patron to the Infection Prevention Society. Jonathan was a speaker at last year's IPS Conference in Bournemouth, where he delivered one of the headline talks, the Ayliffe Lecture, to a rapt audience. He provided a major highlight of conference, and the IPS is thrilled to announce that he has taken on the significant role as a Patron for the charity.

Lisa Butcher, the IPS President, said “This is a key appointment for the Infection Prevention Society. We are extremely fortunate to have secured such an influential and inspirational leader in healthcare, who also has a wealth of knowledge in infection prevention and control. The IPS will undoubtedly benefit from Jonathan’s vast experience, which will help the Society continue to flourish for the benefit of our 2,343 members and the wider public.”

Prof. Sir Jonathan Van-Tam

The IPS’s mission is to inform, promote, and sustain evidence-based infection prevention policy and practice to create a health and care system where no person's health and wellbeing is harmed by preventable infection. Jonathan’s considerable experience clearly aligns with this goal. He is a public health specialist with a clinical background in emergency medicine, anesthesia, and infectious diseases. He is also an expert on respiratory viruses and pandemics and is the former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, and now it’s Senior Strategic Advisor in Medicine.

Jonathan’s career has also taken him to UKHSA as now known, the World Health Organization, and the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries. Jonathan was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care in 2017-22 as Deputy Chief Medical Officer. He is well-known for his leadership role during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly his straight, no-nonsense communication style from the podium at No.10 Downing Street, and for the acquisition and rollout of vaccines and antiviral drugs in the UK.

He received a knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen in her 2022 New Year’s Honours List for services to public health. He has recently been awarded the Royal Society’s Attenborough Award and Lecture 2022 for outstanding public engagement in science.

The IPS are absolutely ecstatic to announce this appointment, and cannot wait to start working with JVT.