Angela Douglas MBE

Angela Douglas MBE is a distinguished leader in the field of genetics and healthcare science, currently serving as President of the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA), a position she has held since December 2023. Prior to this, Angela was the Deputy Chief Scientific Officer for NHS England from 2018 to 2023, demonstrating her enduring commitment to the advancement of healthcare science over a career spanning more than 42 years in the NHS. Angela is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) and spent 22 years at Liverpool Women’s Hospital as the Scientific Director of the Cheshire and Merseyside Genetics and Genomics Service. During this time, she also served as Clinical Programme Director, delivering the 100,000 Genome Project across the North West Coast, a landmark initiative in genomic medicine. Throughout her career, Angela has held a series of prominent leadership positions. She was President of the British Society for Genetic Medicine (BSGM) in 2012 and has previously chaired both the Association for Clinical Cytogenetics (ACC) and the Association for Clinical Genomic Science (ACGS). Angela also served as Chair of the RCPath Genetics and Reproductive Medicine Specialty Advisory Committee and was RCPath Scientific Workforce Lead. In 2010, she became the Scientific Director for the North West Strategic Health Authority (NW SHA) and was appointed Scientific Advisor to the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer, supporting all Healthcare Science disciplines across the North West in the implementation of NHS policy. Angela played a crucial role during the Covid-19 pandemic, contributing to the development and validation of NHS Test and Trace laboratories, product assay development, and technical validation. As Deputy Chief Scientific Officer, she led the Technical Validation Group (TVG) for UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and acted as Scientific Lead for UKHSA’s Coronavirus Test Device Approvals (CTDA). She also provided scientific oversight to the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Diagnostics team in the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer.

Angela has chaired several national groups, including the National Clinical Engineers Network, which received an Excellence in Healthcare Award from NHS England in 2022 and was a finalist at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards. She also chaired the National Pathology Laboratory Quality Assurance Group, which was similarly honoured with an Excellence in Healthcare Award by NHS England in 2022. Angela’s contributions have been widely recognised. In 2014, she was named one of the UK’s Top 50 Inspirational Women Leaders by the Health Service Journal (HSJ). In 2015, she was awarded Healthcare Scientist of the Year by the Chief Scientific Officer at NHS England and was made a Fellow of the Academy for Healthcare Science. The following year, she was honoured in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours List as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her research and mentorship of students. Further accolades include being named a trailblazer in the Pathologist’s 2019 Power List, receiving an Honorary Fellowship from the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine in 2021, and being celebrated in 2022 in the publication ‘A Snapshot of Women in COG’ for her exceptional contribution to Covid Genomics during the pandemic. In 2023, Angela was awarded a second Fellowship from the Academy for Healthcare Science for her work in training and education and was nominated for a UK Women Leaders Award by the UK Women Leaders Network.