New appointment at the Royal London

Dr Tom Butler, Haematology Clinical Lead issued the following:

As you all know, Drew Provan retired at the end of August and we have been working hard to recruit a new consultant to take on the medical  leadership of our internationally renowned immunohaematology research and clinical centre.

I am really pleased to be able to announce that we have now appointed Dr Vickie McDonald to this role, she will formally start with us late July/early August but is already collaborating with us on various projects. She brings a wealth of clinical and research experience in immune platelet disorders. She has been a consultant at Guys & St Thomas’ NHS Trust for a number of years,

looking after patients with ITP, TTP and thrombosis. Her original PhD was in the immunobiology of platelet disorders and she has experience in setting up national registries and multiprofessional clinical teams. She has the experience and enthusiasm to hit the ground running and we are all looking forward to her joining us. As well as leading on ITP, she will be joining the haemophilia and thrombosis teams and this aligns nicely with the existing clinical and research activities of the department in a way that should synergise well.

I would like to thank Drew for his ongoing support as he has very generously come back regularly to run ITP clinics and provide expert advice, despite his retirement. I would also like to specifically thank Louise Taylor for providing ITP clinical expertise throughout this time, Dan Hart for helping with the clinical trials and ITP registry side of things and several other people who have enabled us to look after our patients in this transition period.

We already have several active research programmes and the largest NIHR research portfolio for non-malignant haematology research in the UK. This means we are providing our patients with the most pioneering treatments available as well as engaging in research to develop new treatments.

With new leadership and new plans for the future we are looking forward to doing even more.

Mrs Shirley Watson MBE, Founder of The ITP Support Association said the following, “The ITP Support Association welcomes Dr McDonald to this important post at a leading ITP Clinical Centre, and we look forward to working with her”.

“The Association also sends their best wishes to Drew on his early retirement from the Royal London, he will be sorely missed by all.”