London, 1 of December, 2017 – Today, Dr Marta Tufet has been announced as the newly appointed Executive Director of the UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS).
Dr Tufet is currently the Global Health Research Adviser at the Department of Health (seconded from the Wellcome Trust) and will begin working at UKCDS in January 2018.
She will take on this newly created position to replace current Director Ms Vicky Morgan who has led UKCDS since July 2016.
Professor Baron Peter Piot KCMG, the first Chair to lead the HMG Strategic Coherence of ODA-funded Research (SCOR) Board[1], which is supported by UKCDS, said:
“We are delighted to announce Dr Marta Tufet as the new Executive Director of UKCDS. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in research, grant-making, policy, governance and building collaborations in low and middle income countries. I have no doubt that she will hugely help us to drive forward the aims of UKCDS at this crucial time for UK research for international development.”
Commenting on her appointment, Marta said:
“I look forward to building on the fantastic work of the UKCDS team and member community. I am committed to ensuring that UK research for development has the greatest possible impact and I am very excited to seek even more innovative ways for us to collectively meet the challenges of the coming years.”
Notes to editors
- The UK Collaborative on Development Sciences (UKCDS) is a group of 14 UK government departments and research funders with a shared interest in international development. A small Secretariat brings this group together with other key organisations in a neutral space to share knowledge and identify opportunities for collaboration. In so doing, UKCDS ensures the best science is funded and used to benefit international development, as well as the UK.
- UKCDS will change our name to UKCDR (UK Collaborative on Development Research) next year to fully reflect the work we do. There is a perception that the S (Science) in UKCDS implies we work solely within the physical sciences. However, our remit is broader as we cover all research – academic and non-academic. UKCDS/UKCDR supports all activities to deliver robust evidence and knowledge to inform development.
- Dr Marta Tufet currently leads the development of the UK Department of Health’s Global Health Research Programme. She has over 10 years’ experience of developing and implementing strategic research funding and capacity strengthening initiatives in developing countries. She has been at Wellcome since 2009 and previously worked at Nature, the Charles Darwin Research Station in the Galapagos Islands, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the African Academy of Sciences in Kenya to establish the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa. She is a Trustee of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene and of the Galapagos Conservation Trust. Marta has a PhD and BSc in Biology from Imperial College. @MTufet
Press contact
Olivia Berthon
Communications Manager, UKCDS
Email: o.berthon@ukcds.org.uk
Phone: 020 7611 8360 / 07432 733 367
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