Dame Parveen June Kumar, (born 1 June 1942) is a British doctor who is currently Professor of Medicine and Education 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 ...

. She worked in the NHS for over 40 years as a consultant gastroenterologist and physician at Barts and the London Hospitals and the

Homerton University Hospital Homerton University Hospital is a teaching hospital in Homerton in the London Borough of Hackney. It is managed by Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Homerton Fever Hospital, which op ...

. She was the President of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

in 2006, of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chamber ...

from 2010-2012, of the

Medical Women's Federation The Medical Women's Federation is the largest UK body of women doctors. The organisation is dedicated to the advancement of the personal and professional development of women in medicine and to improving the health of women and their families i ...

from 2016-2018 and of th
Royal Medical Benevolent Fund
from 2013-2020. She was also Vice President of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

from 2003-2005. In addition, she was a founding non-executive director of the

National Institute of Clinical Excellence The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in England that publishes guidelines in four areas: * the use of health technologies withi ...

, chaired the Medicines Commission UK until 2005, and also chaired th
BUPA Foundation Charity
for Research until 2013. Kumar co-founded and co-edited '' Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine'', which is now in its 10th edition, a standard medical textbook which is used around the world. She has also held several leadership roles in medical education. She set up the first MSc course in

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

in the UK, and continues to teach, lecture and examine medical students and doctors across the globe. Apart from medical education, she is also very interested in global health and set up the Global Health Initiative at the

when she was President. Kumar was awarded DBE in 2017,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 2000, the BMA Gold Medal in 2007, and was the first Asian Professional Woman of the year in 1999. She also has several other honours and honorary degrees.

Early life and education

Born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

(then

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

), Kumar was initially educated in the famous Lawrence School Sanawar in India. Kumar moved to the United Kingdom and studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, then training as a

gastroenterologist Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, ...

under Sir Anthony Dawson and Michael Clark.

Career

After qualifying, Kumar worked at St. Bartholomew's,

and 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 s ...

as a gastroenterologist. Specialising in

small bowel The small intestine or small bowel is an organ in the gastrointestinal tract where most of the absorption of nutrients from food takes place. It lies between the stomach and large intestine, and receives bile and pancreatic juice through the pa ...

diseases, such as

coeliac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barle ...

, she was an elected member of the British Society of Gastroenterology's Council, and started the first gastroenterology MSc course in the UK. Interested in education, Kumar became academic sub-dean at Barts, then accepting the job of Director of Post-Graduate Medical Education. She co-founded and co-edited the textbook ''Clinical Medicine'' with Clark. ''Clinical Medicine'' is now a standard work, and is used worldwide: the 9th edition was released in 2017. In 1999, Kumar was appointed a non-executive director of the

, resigning in 2002 following her appointment as Chairman of the Medicines Commission UK. In 2006 she became President of the British Medical Association, and in 2010 was appointed President of the Royal Society of Medicine. She served as Vice-President of the

, and also held the positions of the Director of CPD, and International education. She was a trustee o
The Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust
and also of CancerBackup. Kumar is also a trustee of the

British Youth Opera British Youth Opera (BYO) is an opera company in the United Kingdom. It aims to give young singers, conductors, directors and production staff training and experience through workshops and full-scale operatic productions at venues such as the Peaco ...

and healthcare funder Barts Charity, and the BMA Foundation for Medical Research.

Awards and honours

In 1999, she became the first recipient of the Asian Woman of the Year (Professional) award, and in 2000 was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in recognition of her services to medicine. She was also a recipient of the British Medical Association's Gold Medal for "services to Medicine and Education". She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to medicine and medical education. In 2017, she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement for contributions to Medicine by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and in 2019 she won the BMJ Award for Outstanding Contribution to Health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Parveen 1942 births British women medical doctors 21st-century British medical doctors Living people Presidents of the British Medical Association Presidents of the Royal Society of Medicine Presidents of the Medical Women's Federation Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Alumni of the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital