Ian Jacobs (born 6 October 1957) is an academic,
medical doctor
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
,
gynaecological oncologist, charity founder
and university leader from the UK, with dual British and Australian citizenship.
He began as the ninth president and vice-chancellor of the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
in Australia in February 2015. Jacobs announced his resignation in January 2021, to take effect at the beginning of 2022.
Early life and education
Jacobs was born in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
and raised in
Cockfosters in
North London.
Jacobs is an alumnus of
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, and the
Middlesex Hospital Medical School, which is now part of
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. He received a bachelor of arts and master of arts in medicine and law from Cambridge in 1980 and 1983, respectively. He qualified as a doctor of medicine (MBBS) from Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1983. Jacobs was awarded a medical doctorate from the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
in 1991.
Jacobs was the first in his family to gain a tertiary education, benefitting from the era of publicly funded education in the UK.
Career
After qualifying as a doctor, Jacobs worked as a junior doctor at the Middlesex Hospital and at
Mount Vernon Hospital
Mount Vernon Hospital is located in Northwood, an area of north-west Greater London. It is one of two hospitals run by The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was founded as The North London Hospital for Cons ...
. In 1984, he commenced specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology at the
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and spe ...
and then
Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, which he completed in 1990.
Also in 1984, Jacobs founde
The Eve Appeal(first called the Gynaecology Cancer Research Fund), a charity with the aim of raising funds for research in
gynaecologic cancer. In 1985, he began a program of research into
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
screening.
He was subsequently Medical Director of the charity as well as Emeritus Trustee.
From 1990 to 1991, Jacobs received a fellowship from the
Medical Research Council to research cancer genetics at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
.
He became a member of the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...
in 1991
and received a Cancer Research Campaign (now
Cancer Research UK) McElwain fellowship at Cambridge University from 1992 to 1994.
He completed his subspecialist training in gynaecologic oncology at
St Bartholomew's Hospital and the
Royal Marsden Hospital in 1996, and began working as a consultant and senior lecturer at
Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry
, mottoeng = Temper the bitter things in life with a smile
, parent = Queen Mary University of London
, president = Lord Mayor of London
, head_label = Warden
, head = Mark Caulfield
, students = 3,410
, undergrad = 2,23 ...
in the same year.
Jacobs was promoted to Professor of Gynaecological Cancer at the Queen Mary University of London in 1999
and was Director of the Cancer Institute and Associate Research Dean before joining University College London (UCL) in 2004 as the head of the gynaecologic oncology research department.
At UCL, Jacobs established th
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women's Health(iFWH),
the Ugandan Women's Health Initiative (UWHI),
and the UCLH/UCL Biomedical Research Centre.
From 2009 to 2011, Jacobs was dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences.
After seven years, he departed from UCL in 2011 to take up the position of vice-president of the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
and the dean of its
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences.
He also led the
Manchester Academic Health Science Centre
The Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (MAHSC; ) is an academic health science centre based in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a partnership between the University of Manchester and four NHS organisations in Greater Manchester. It was or ...
, which partnered the university with six
NHS hospitals.
While in Manchester, Jacobs founded the Northern Health Science Alliance (NHSA), involving leading universities,
Academic Health Science Networks
Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) are membership organisations within the NHS in England. They were created in May 2013 with the aim of bringing together health services, and academic and industry members. Their stated purpose is to improve ...
and
NHS trusts across the north of England.
UNSW Sydney president and vice-chancellor
In 2015, Jacobs relocated from the UK to
Sydney, Australia
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...
, after he was appointed president and vice-chancellor of the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
(UNSW Sydney).
In his first year at UNSW Sydney, Jacobs launched the UNSW 2025 Strategy, a 10-year strategic plan to enhance the university's global impact and reputation. The strategy, published in October 2015 after wide-ranging consultation with the UNSW Sydney community, incorporated Jacobs’ belief in universities as the drivers of societal and economic transformation.
Research
Jacobs initiated and was chief investigator for the following
ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...
research programs, which were funded by a combination of the
Medical Research Council (MRC), the
National Institute for Health Research
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "impr ...
(NIHR),
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and The Eve Appeal:
* UKFOCSS (UK Familial Ovarian Cancer Screening Study)
* UKCTOCS (UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening)
* PROMISE (Prediction of Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Screening and Early Detection) program
* GCaPPS (Genetic Cancer Prediction through Population Screening)
Since the early 2000s, Jacobs’ research programs have received approximately AUD $100 million in funding and resulted in more than 400 publications with an
h-index
The ''h''-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citation impact of the publications, initially used for an individual scientist or scholar. The ''h''-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as winn ...
greater than 85.
In May 2021, the results of the UKCTOCS were published in ''The Lancet''. The research found that although ovarian cancer can be detected early and before women develop symptoms, this does not translate into saving lives.
Jacobs wrote an account of his 35-year involvement in the research in ''The Conversation'', expressing his sadness and disappointment that the study did not find the outcome for which the research team had hoped.
Jacobs is founder, non-executive director and consultant to
Abcodia, a University College London
spin-out
A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, or starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active.
Characte ...
company involved in
biomarker discovery and development.
Personal life
Jacobs is married to Chris Jacobs, a nurse and genetic counsellor whom he met at Middlesex Hospital. They have three children. His great grandparents were migrants from Poland and Russia. His parents grew up in East London and until retiring ran a retail pharmacy.
References
External links
Jacobs' profile on the University of New South Wales website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Ian
1957 births
21st-century English medical doctors
Academics of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Academics of the University of Manchester
Academics of University College London
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
English gynaecologists
English obstetricians
English people of Polish descent
English people of Russian descent
Living people
Medical doctors from London
University of New South Wales faculty
Vice-Chancellors of the University of New South Wales