Simon Gaskell
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Simon James Gaskell (born 2 May 1950) is the previous president and principal of
Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...
, and current chair of the
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and condu ...
and chair of the board of governors of the
University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...
. He previously served as the vice-president for research at 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 Univ ...
.


Early life and career

He was born in 1950 and educated at
Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School Haberdashers' Boys' School (also known as Haberdashers', Habs, or Habs Boys), until September 2021 known as Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, is a Independent school (United Kingdom), public school for pupils age 4 to 18 in Elstree, Hertfo ...
and the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
, where he gained a BSc and PhD in chemistry. Gaskell's career has spanned a number of leading academic and management posts in the UK and the United States. Following a bachelor's degree and a PhD at the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
, he took up his first research post in 1974 at the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
. He then became head of the Mass Spectrometry Unit at the
University of Wales College of Medicine The Cardiff University School of Medicine ( cy, Ysgol Feddygaeth Prifysgol Caerdydd) is the medical school of Cardiff University and is located in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Founded in 1893 as part of the University College of South Wales and Monmou ...
, during which period he spent a sabbatical year at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina, USA. He returned to the USA in 1987 to become Professor of Experimental Medicine in the
Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate S ...
, Houston and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology and Chemistry at the
University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
from 1989. He joined
UMIST The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...
as Professor of Mass Spectrometry in 1993, before becoming Head of Chemistry in 1999 and, following the merger of the two institutions (with which he was closely involved), Associate Vice President for Research in the University of Manchester in 2004, and Vice President for Research in 2006. He joined
Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...
as Principal in October 2009. Gaskell also served as chair of the board of the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) from 2013 to 2017, and as Treasurer for
Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
, the representative organisation for UK universities, from 1 August 2012. Since 14 March 2019, he has been chair of the board of the
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and condu ...
. He has been a member of the board of governors of the
University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...
since 2019, and its chair since 2022.


Research interests

A Fellow of the
Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...
, Simon Gaskell sits on a number of advisory boards and panels, and is also on the editorial board of a range of academic journals. He conducted research at the Michael Barber Centre for Mass Spectrometry at 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 Univ ...
. His work there involved the development and application of state-of-the-art mass spectrometry, with particular applications in the biomedical sciences. In recent years, international efforts have been made to sequence the genomes of many organisms, including man. These studies of an organism's entire DNA sequence (known as genomics) have in turn led to the development of a similar field of research, called 'proteomics'. Proteomics is the study of the structure and function of a cell's entire set of proteins, which orchestrate the chemical reactions that occur within cells. To understand how a cell works, scientists need to know which proteins are present and in what amounts. Gaskell's research uses various forms of an analytical technique called mass spectrometry to determine the quantity and longevity of these different proteins. Gaskell has recently used these techniques to study a human parasite called ''
Trypanosoma Brucei ''Trypanosoma brucei'' is a species of parasitic kinetoplastid belonging to the genus '' Trypanosoma'' that is present in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike other protozoan parasites that normally infect blood and tissue cells, it is exclusively extrace ...
''. It causes sleeping sickness, which affects around 400,000 people each year, predominantly in the developing world.


Controversy

One of Queen Mary University of London's strategic aims was to build upon the institution's global research impact as measured by, among other things, ranking in league tables. In 2012, during a reorganisation in The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, staff members were dismissed on grounds of redundancy while similar posts were advertised. The grounds for dismissal were based on income from research grants, on a count of the number of papers published, and on the
impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as ...
of the journal in which the papers appeared. These criteria are widely regarded as being poor indicators of the worth of individual scientists. Articles and letters in The Times, and in Times Higher Education, and on blogs discussed the claims. Queen Mary has responded to these criticisms with a Frequently Asked Questions document and a comment piece by Simon Gaskell in Times Higher Education.


Affiliations

He has been a member of the board of governors of the
University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...
since 2019, and its chair since 2022.


Selected bibliography


Books

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Journals

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References


External links


Queen Mary University of London
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaskell, Simon 1950 births Academics of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of the University of Bristol English chemists Living people