Louise Wood has worked for over 30 years, nationally and internationally, within organisations dedicated to excellence in healthcare research, innovation and policy. Her experience of strategic leadership, operational delivery and policy-making is underpinned by a strong commitment to partnership working.
Louise has had a long-standing supportive relationship with the Academy of Medical Sciences through many of her roles, including as a champion of our commitment to working with health and social care partners across the UK to increase the focus of government on prevention, public health and communities and for the need to improve equality, diversity and inclusiveness in research, notably while at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and as chair of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC).
The daughter of a research scientist, Louise has an honours degree in physiology from the University of Edinburgh and describes herself as “always having been a curious person.” While at Edinburgh, she was awarded a science faculty vacation scholarship. This gave her a taste of research, strengthening her wish to study for a PhD, which she went on to complete, in biomedical science, at the University of London.
Working initially in drug safety regulation, Louise was founding director of the General Practice Research Database Division (now Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD)) of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. She was a member of the Agency’s Executive Board from 1999-2004.
In 2005, Louise joined the Department of Health, first as the Deputy Director and Head of Innovation and Industry R&D Relations, working as part of Dame Sally Davies’ leadership team on the establishment of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). She held this role for four years, during which time she developed and led the UK Clinical Research Collaboration initiatives to establish productive partnerships with the life sciences industries and their trade associations as well as co-chairing the Ministerial Industry Strategy Group Clinical Research Working Group.
In 2009, she was appointed Deputy Director and Head of NHS Research Infrastructure and Growth, R&D Directorate. Here, she was accountable for the Department's strategy and policies for the NIHR £0.5 billion annual investment in research infrastructure to maximise the research potential of the NHS and its contribution to patient benefit and economic growth.
After a secondment to the AMRC, as Director of Policy and Public Affairs from 2015 to 2016, Louise was appointed Director, Science Research & Evidence at DHSC and Deputy Chief Executive of the NIHR. Here, she worked alongside Professor Chris Whitty, the Department’s Chief Scientific Advisor, across government and with other funding agencies. She also had responsibility for research to inform policy in the Department, with a special focus on genomics, rare diseases and emerging therapies.
In these roles, much of her work was devoted to improving research infrastructure in the NHS and with its partner universities, thus influencing policy and practice to improve the lives of patients through delivery of ground-breaking research.
Louise has been instrumental in many approaches to improving patient care and population health and cementing the UK's reputation as a leading international player in healthcare research and science. Her wider contributions to the research sector also include as a Council member for the Medical Research Council and Chair of the Data Science Centre Oversight Committee of the British Heart Foundation. She was a member of advisory boards for LifeArc, a medical research charity that specialises in early-stage translation of lab-based scientific discoveries into the next generation of diagnostics, treatments and cures, and Wellcome, where she chaired the International Advisory Group at the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health at the University of Exeter.
Dedicated to improving lives through research and innovation and committed to realising the opportunities provided by philanthropy, Louise has said “I’m passionate about the delivery of groundbreaking research, innovations in health care and implementation of evidence-informed public policy to improve people’s health and address inequalities.”
On taking up her role as chair of AMRC, Louise was asked about her role models, replying “I don’t have a single role model and have been privileged to work with numerous inspirational public servants, charity leaders and academics who have shaped my thinking and approach to work and life more generally. I’ve also met a few whose modus operandi is the antithesis of how I’d hope to act! These experiences have been equally influential. I identify with Maya Angelou’s perspective that ‘my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, and some style.’”
Louise was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in 2011, named in the “Top 50 Movers and Shakers in Biotech” by Cambridge Judge Business School and The Innovation Forum in 2014 and awarded a CBE for services to health research in the Queen’s 2019 Birthday Honours list. In July 2024, Louise took up the role of Chair of Moorfields Eye Charity.
The Academy of Medical Sciences was delighted to welcome Louise as an Honorary Fellow in 2023.