New COO to take up Role at The Crick

Dr Samantha Barrell, a noted healthcare leader, manager and a former GP, has been appointed as the new Chief Operating Officer of the Francis Crick Institute. She will take up the role at the Crick in the autumn. Sam is currently Chief Executive of the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Musgrove Park hospital and serves a patient population of around 538,000 people. She played a major role as Chief Clinical Officer in overseeing the formation of the South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group and sits on a number of advisory boards for think tanks and healthcare networks. She was awarded the CBE in 2014.

Dr Barrell said: "It will be the most interesting, exciting role at the Crick. I've been attracted by the emphasis the Crick places on high-quality science and its approach to innovation, but also on people. The Crick wants to attract top talent, and 'gets' that people need to be nurtured with supportive management and the right leadership. That approach matches my own beliefs in what makes a successful organisation."

Sir Paul Nurse, director of the Francis Crick Institute, said: "We're delighted that Sam has agreed to come to the Crick and very much look forward to giving her a warm welcome. She will bring to this position her experience of running complex organisations, as well as extensive leadership, people and managerial skills. With her clinical training she also fully understands our research mission and the potential it holds for human health."

Sam takes over from David Roblin, who is joining Summit Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that aims to develop new drugs for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and C. difficile infection based on research carried out at Oxford University.

David will retain a role at the Crick two days a month as a Senior Scientific Translation Fellow, advising the Executive Committee and Board on translating our scientific advances into novel treatments and health innovations. In this role he will continue as chair of the Crick Translation Advisory Board.

(Picture Credit: Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust)