Macintosh Professorships awarded to Dr Tonny Veenith and Dr Brendan McGrath

The Royal College of Anaesthetists is delighted to announce details of two Macintosh Professorships approved by the Nominations Committee.

This prestigious lecture and title are awarded on the recommendation of the Board of the National Institute for Academic Anaesthesia (NIAA). Awards are made in recognition of outstanding contributions to the wider field of anaesthesia by a senior academic or clinician.

Dr Tonny Veenith, a consultant in neurocritical care and critical care medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham has been awarded a Macintosh Professorship for his academic work. He has been a senior lecturer at the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing (IIA) at the University of Birmingham since 2013. His lecture, “Acute traumatic brain injury – Novel biomarkers, therapeutic opportunities and translation of early clinical studies to bedside practice”, uses three primary imaging modalities to understand the pathobiology of acute head injury, a neurological disorder with enormous impact on the nation’s health. It is the leading cause of disability in people under 40 and severely disables 150-200 people per million annually in the UK.

Dr Brendan McGrath is a consultant in anaesthesia and critical care at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester and is the second recipient of the Macintosh Professorship in this round. He has established himself as an expert in airway management and tracheostomy care by developing an internationally recognised programme of academic research and education in implementation science and quality improvements. His lecture, “Tracheostomy – a difficult airway in more ways than one”, used research based on implementation science and quality improvement methodologies that are relevant to improvements in complex patient care during the practice of anaesthesia, perioperative medicine, and critical care.

Find out about this, and other College awards, by visiting the Honours, awards, and prizes page.