Brunel University today announces that it has appointed Prof. David Gilbert as head of the School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics (SISCM).
Prof. Gilbert joins Brunel from University of Glasgow, where he was Professor of Bioinformatics and Director of the Bioinformatics Research Centre.
As head of SISCM, Prof. Gilbert will look for opportunities for the school's researchers and lecturers to collaborate more closely with each other and with other schools within the University, including the School of Engineering and Design and the School of Health Sciences and Social Care. Drawing on his background in systems biology, he will be particularly focused on aligning the University's mathematics, computing, engineering and life sciences research agendas, with the goal of making breakthroughs in personalised medicine for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.
Commenting on his appointment, Prof. Gilbert said: “I was attracted to Brunel because of the University's strong research focus and its plans to develop a number of inter-disciplinary research groups. It will be my personal challenge to continue with my own research whilst fulfilling my new role.
“Moreover, as head of school, I am responsible for ensuring the best possible learning experience for our students at all levels, and so I will be keen to ensure that our inter-disciplinary approach to research is also reflected in our teaching. With this in mind, I hope to launch a number of new undergraduate and post-graduate courses in collaboration with my colleagues in the School of Engineering and Design and School of Health Sciences and Social Care.“
Prof. Lorraine de Souza, head of Brunel's School of Health Sciences and Social Care, adds: “Prof. Gilbert's arrival at Brunel is most welcome and we look forward to working with him on research collaborations. His interest in Systems Biology should help to bring formalism to some of our biochemistry efforts, for example in pathway modelling, which should lead to predictive models and eventually feed into Predictive, Personalised, Participatory and Preventive (P4) Medicine.“