The Secretary of State has approved the appointment of Teresa Allen as the substantive Chief Executive of the Health Research Authority.
Jonathan Montgomery, HRA Chair, writes:
"Teresa has shown outstanding leadership as interim CEO and her confirmation in this appointment will be widely welcomed within the HRA and those whom it serves. She proved her worth through a rigorous appointment process, and I am delighted that she has agreed to accept the challenge. Under her leadership, and that of Janet Wisely before her, we have built a platform from which the HRA can transform the regulatory environment for health and social care research.
"I am looking forward to working with Teresa on our vital mission to promote and protect the interests of participants and the public more efficiently, better support researchers, and thus play our role in enhancing the UK’s already strong reputation for high ethical and scientific research quality."
Commenting on her appointment, Teresa Allen said:
I am very proud of the fantastic progress that we have made and grateful to the staff and stakeholders of the HRA for their support and encouragement during my time as interim CEO. It is very exciting and a great privilege to have the chance to take this work forward.
We have an opportunity to build on our success; to do even more to make things more straightforward for researchers by streamlining approvals processes, making them more proportionate and responsive, and addressing remaining areas where it is unduly hard to navigate governance requirements. The UK has a great record in health and social care research, an inspiring vision for excellence in the life sciences, and great enthusiasm for the task. I am looking forward to playing my part in fulfilling our ambitions.