Council - Internal Members

The following members are all staff or students at SGUL.

Professor Peter Kopelman (Principal)   Professor Kopelman graduated from St George’s in 1974 and undertook most of his junior doctor training at St George’s Hospital. He was Vice-Principal, Queen Mary, University of London and Deputy Warden of the Medical and Dental School (2001-6) and Dean of the Faculty of Health, University of East Anglia (2006-8). He has been closely involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and chairs the Clinical Examining Board of the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians (UK) and the NIHR Academic Careers Panel; he is a member of UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee.  Professor Kopelman has a long-standing interest in diabetes care, nutrition and obesity with a major research interest in obesity. He is a member of the UK Department of Health and Food Standards Agency Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, the Department of Health Expert Panel on Obesity, and is Science Advisor to the Office of Science and Innovations Foresight Obesity Project; additionally he is a member of the national and international committees on nutrition and academic affairs.

Professor John Axford John Axford is Professor of Clinical Rheumatology and Director of the Sir Joseph Hotung Centre for Musculoskeletal Disorders (further details at www.hotungcentre.sgul.ac.uk). Professor Axford directs the provision of clinical and basic science research, clinical care and both undergraduate and postgraduate education. Professor Axford qualified from University College, London and held research posts both at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, and Tufts University, USA. Professor Axford joined SGUL in 1990 and was appointed Chair in Clinical Rheumatology in 2005.As well as Council membership, Professor Axford is an elected member of Senate.He is a past section President of the Royal Society of Medicine and currently serves on six Editorial Boards, and is Editor of the undergraduate textbook 'Medicine'.

Mrs Jill Edwards Jill Edwards is the elected staff representative to Council 2007-2010, and works in the Division of Clinical Developmental Sciences as Divisional Administrator.  Jill is a long-standing member of staff who has worked at SGUL since the early 1980s.  She has also been elected for a second term as Clerical and Secretarial Representative on the Staff Forum.  In the early 1990s Jill served for four years as a Parent Governor at St Marks Primary School in Merton, and for three of those as Chair.  From 2002-2006 she also served as a Parent Governor at the Beacon High School, Surrey.

Professor George Griffin Professor George Griffin is Vice Principal for Research, Head of the Division of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and practices clinical medicine (Infectious Diseases) in St. George's Hospital.He trained at King's College, London, St. George's and Harvard Medical School, receiving most of his postgraduate clinical training at Hammersmith Hospital.He has been on many Wellcome Trust and MRC Committees and was Expert Adviser to the House of Lords Fighting Infection white paper.Professor Griffin currently chairs the Government Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens.He is passionate about fusion of basic science with excellent clinical practice at undergraduate andpostgraduate level.

Professor Sean Hilton Sean Hilton qualified at St. George’s in 1974. He is an academic general practitioner, and Vice-Principal for Teaching and Learning at St. George’s. He was formerly Dean of Undergraduate Medicine 1997-2002, and was responsible for the introduction of new curricula for our 5-year (1996) and 4-year (2000) MB.BS courses.Professor Hilton is a non-Executive member of the St. George’s Healthcare Trust Board. He is also a member of the Council and Executive of the Association for Study of Medical Education (ASME). He is particularly interested in personal and professional development for medical students, and is a member of the Royal College of Physicians’ Working Party on Medical Professionalism.

Professor Patricia Hughes Patricia Hughes graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow and trained in psychiatry in Glasgow and London.  She was Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy at Springfield Hospital for 8 years before coming to an academic post at St George's in 1992, with clinical sessions in South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust.  Professor Hughes' research interest is in perinatal psychiatry and early child development. She was Sub Dean for Medical Admissions from 1999-2002, becoming Dean of Undergraduate Medicine in 2002, and She is also Head of the Division of Mental Health Sciences. Outside SGUL, Professor Hughes chairs the London Higher Healthcare Group

Mr Karl McPherson Karl McPherson was elected President of the SGUL Students’ Union 2006-7 and remains on Council for 2007-8 as ex-President to provide some continuity of communication with the student body at Council discussions. Karl has completed his 4th year as a medical student on the five year MBBS course.He has worked as a summer school mentor and as a DJ for the Students' Union. He has also been a student e-mentor, student interviewer, directed "The Tooting Show", been a clinical skills demonstrator, writer and cartoonist for the student publication "Sharp", and was Entertainments Officer for the Students’ Union 2004/5.

Mr Paolo Perella Paolo Perella is elected President of the SGUL Students’ Union 2007-8. He represents the student body at Council meetings and provides a student voice within Council discussions.Paolo was elected during his fourth year of the five year MBBS course. Prior to this he was a member of the Students’ Union Executive Committee, and was the Student Union Bar Officer.Paolo is also a clinical skills demonstrator and during his second year at SGUL, he became a published author in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Professor Paul Wainwright Paul Wainwright is the Dame Muriel Powell Professor of Nursing in the Joint Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences (FHSS) at SGUL.  Paul qualified as a general nurse at Southampton and worked in clinical posts in Cornwall and Oxford before moving into education and research.  He was a Senior Nurse at Southend Health Authority, a Professional Advisor at the Welsh National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, and Reader in the Centre for Philosophy and Health Care at the University of Wales Swansea before moving to Kingston and SGUL in January 2005.  Paul chairs the FHSS Research Ethics Committee, and is a member of the Royal College of Nursing Ethics Forum Steering Committee.

SD 15 April 2008