Queen’s has appointed Professor Ian Bruce as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences and David Quinn as Executive Director of Belfast Region City Deal.

As Faculty PVC, Professor Bruce will have strategic responsibility for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, providing leadership, innovation and direction.

Professor Bruce will join Queen’s from the University of Manchester, where he is Vice Dean for Health and Care Partnerships, and Director at the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Under his leadership Manchester BRC was recently awarded £60M over the next five years; a greater than two-fold increase in their previous funding.

Ian was educated at Bellaghy Controlled Primary School and the Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt. He qualified in Medicine from Queen's University Belfast in 1988 and carried out his clinical training in medicine and rheumatology in Northern Ireland, completing his MD Thesis in 1995. From 1996-1998 he was the Geoff Carr Lupus Fellow at the University of Toronto. He then moved to Manchester in 1998 and was appointed Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Manchester in August 2010, and an NIHR Senior Investigator in April 2013.

Professor Bruce will take up his role at Queen’s on 8 April 2024. He will continue his research activities in collaboration with the Centre for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Manchester. His research has focused on early mechanisms and long-term outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus and related immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Speaking about his appointment, Professor Ian Bruce said: “I am very excited to be joining the senior leadership team at Queen’s University Belfast. Queen’s plays a vital role driving excellence in research and innovation to improve health outcomes for our citizens and beyond. Queen’s is also strategically placed to build and retain a highly skilled workforce to serve our community, build our life sciences sector and drive economic development. I look forward to working with the staff and students to help Queen’s fulfil its vision to shape a better world through life-changing education and research”.

As Executive Director of Belfast Region City Deal, David Quinn will drive Queen’s £230m transformational programme of innovation through three cutting-edge Innovation Centres in advanced manufacturing, clinical research, and secure connected intelligent technologies.

Since May 2022 David has been Executive Director of the Global Innovation Institute, a £68m expansion of the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) under City Deal. David previously had a 30-year career in business consultancy and is a former UK Consulting Partner in PwC based in Northern Ireland.

This newly created role will report to the Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer and will lead a team driving groundbreaking initiatives through the three Innovation Centres - the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre, Momentum One Zero and iREACH Health - which provide vital insights into the industries of the future, supporting businesses with access to tools, and testing new approaches that give data meaning and drive innovation.

At programme level, David, supported by Deputy Director Kara Bailie, and Colm Lavery Queen’s BRCD Estates Programme Director, will deliver the executive leadership. Professor Archie Clements, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise will take on the role of academic executive sponsor and Paddy Anderson that of professional services executive sponsor. David will also chair the University Programme Board which will report to the Strategy Implementation Committee.

David Quinn said: “I feel privileged to undertake the role as Executive Director of Belfast Region City Deal at Queen’s, helping to drive our vision as a civic university to bring lasting economic and social benefits to the people of Northern Ireland and beyond. With forward-thinking people and proven excellence in research capability, we are well-placed to work with our civic partners to drive progress for generations to come through our data-driven Innovation Centres.”

Commenting on the appointments, Queen’s President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer said: “I am delighted that Ian and David will take up these important leadership roles at Queen’s. Ian brings with him a deep understanding and wealth of experience from his time at the University of Manchester which will be invaluable not only to the staff and students in the Faculty and the wider University, but also in delivering benefit from innovation from our research and teaching into the healthcare system for NI.

“David brings extensive local and global innovation experience to this leadership position. Through his 30-year career in senior business roles in Northern Ireland and his time leading the Global Innovation Institute, he brings wide-ranging experience which will support Belfast Region City Deal in its goal of unlocking £1 billion of transformative co-investment to deliver more than 20 highly ambitious projects, create up to 20,000 new, and better, jobs and help make the region a global investment destination for the next decade and beyond.

“I look forward to Ian and David taking on their new roles and to working closely with them going forward.”