Recently staff and colleagues from across our National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC) celebrated the outstanding leadership and achievements of Director Professor John Geddes.
Colleagues gathered for a lunch event in the Department of Psychiatry (DoP) to celebrate and wish Prof Geddes well in his next chapter. This event marked his retirement as Director, a role he has held since the start of NIHR OH BRC in 2017.
Professor Paul Harrison, a close colleague for the last 30 years and NIHR OH BRC Theme Lead for Molecular Targets said:
“I have known John for 30 fun years, and the first thing he taught me was the importance of evidence-based medicine, one of the features of John’s career, collecting and sharing good evidence in everything that you do. John pioneered the changing relationship between the University and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust (OHFT) around 20 years ago grasping the importance of the development of this in leading the way and laying the foundations for the establishment of not just NIHR OH BRC but also NIHR Oxford Health Clinical Research Facility (OH CRF). Not only has John been NIHR OH BRC Director since the beginning, he was also Head of the DoP and covered other roles at OHFT at the same time, demonstrating an incredible dedication to hard work and self-motivation leading to incredible achievements over the last 30 years. We owe him a great debt in launching the NIHR OH BRC and securing its renewal and all his other achievements across both the DoP and OHFT. A wonderful legacy.”
Current NIHR OH BRC Director Professor Rachel Upthegrove said:
“John has had a huge impact nationally as well as locally, I first became aware of John when he spoke about the True Colours initiative and the ambitious ideas of doing things on the big scale with great success. Setting up the NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) together and becoming the deputy chair provided an opportunity for support and collaboration with John, paving the way for the development of the MH-TRC into what it has become today. In the last few months, John demonstrated leadership with enthusiasm, how to manage challenging meetings and has set a great example of the best way to retire, offering transition and support. It has taken five people to take on John’s work post-retirement, and I think that says it all. Thank you, John, personally and nationally from the MH-TRC for everything you have done, particularly in the last 5 years.”
NIHR OH BRC Co Theme Lead for Dementia, Professor Clare Mackay said:
“John’s leadership has been inspiring and transformational for the field, for Oxford, for our BRC and the Department, and for the individuals in the team. He inspired us all to reach a bit further than we thought was possible, not to be afraid of big ambitions, and to gather the best people around us to make things happen. The years leading up to the application for our first BRC, when the building blocks were all put into place, were exhilarating: the OH CRF, Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity’s (OHBA) extension and new MRI scanner, the Cognitive Health Working group, marching off to the Department of Health (DoH) to tell the Chief Medical Officer about our ambitions, etc. John’s skill in bringing together a team that is more than the sum of its parts played a huge role in all the success that followed.”
Professor John Geddes said:
“The most important thing that motivates us as a team is the seriousness of our work. The overall aim has been to get resource into mental health – one of the most under researched areas which also leads to the most disability. Some 14 years ago, we identified that NHS support for research in mental health was being somewhat excluded from key infrastructure investments. We have continued to build the key collaboration between OHFT and University through NIHR OH BRC – this has been so important. Together we have achieved a huge amount over the years. NIHR OH BRC is a wonderful place to work with enthusiastic and reliable colleagues working together on serious issues. We have also been able to show that seriousness of purpose does not have to replace fun, joy and free and inspirational thinking – across the whole team. If you can keep hold of all those elements, wonderful things can be achieved!”
We would like to take this opportunity to thank John for all his efforts leading NIHR OH BRC and taking it from strength to strength in recent years. We wish him all the very best for the future.
You can contact NIHR OH BRC by email: ohbrcenquiries@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
