Members of the TVS SDE attended the Staff Recognition Awards on Thursday 18 June at the John Radcliffe Hospital to celebrate excellence at the Oxford University Hospitals (OUH).
Alex Kingston hosted the awards evening– you can read more about her experiences as a patient at OUH in our news story. The award categories are based on the Trust’s values: Excellence, Compassion, Improvement, Learning, Respect and Delivery.
The team is incredibly proud of TVS SDE Director Kerrie Woods’ nomination for Excellence.
Her nomination in full, submitted by Dr Ben Attwood was as follows:
“I’m delighted to recommend Kerrie for this award, and whilst I have chosen Excellence, her work could fit multiple award categories. In truth, it is hard to overstate how significant a contribution Kerrie has made not only in her role as Programme Director for the Thames Valley and Surrey Secure Data Environment, (hosted by OUH) but to the broader Trust and far further.
Kerrie has worked tirelessly for many years to conceive, set up, develop and maintain what is nationally recognised as the most successful and mature SDE of all in the UK network. Her knowledge of the health data research landscape combined with strategic insight ensured that our SDE has developed a capability and started delivering tangible research outcomes which are unparalleled in the NHS. She is absolutely committed in her mission to deliver high quality research data with integrity, scalability and sustainability.
Her expertise stretches far beyond the TVS-SDE and OUH. She chairs the national steering group on information governance and ethics managing some of the most thorny and sensitive areas in healthcare research. This influences policy of how public and patient health data is collected, managed and communicated in a way that retains ownership and returns value back to the NHS organisations and patients.
She frequently is asked to give talks as a Subject Matter Expert, including an AI Summit held by The Economist this year and Rewired, the Digital Health national conference. Through this she not only educates professionals, patient and public but champions the role of OUH as a pathfinder in a complex and influential space in Life Sciences research.
Her commitment to education is also unwavering, not least in her role associate director for the University of Oxford EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Health Data Science.
What is most remarkable is her dedication to the team that she has grown around her. She knows exactly how to get the very best from the high-calibre colleagues that she has supported and nurtured through the inception of the SDE, and so often inspires her team and in the broader OUH work to achieve beyond what they thought was capable. She was recognised by being nominated as a finalist for the Woman of the Year award at the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2024, an award which clearly she should have won!
Speaking of Awards, in large part through her efforts, our SDE has been nominated for a 2026 HSJ Award in the Data Integration Project category. This demonstrates the credibility of the academic and commercial partnerships she has been instrumental in forging over years of collaboration.
I am regularly in awe of, and feel privileged to work with such a hard working, selfless, inspirational and thoughtful woman. So often Kerrie brings conversations about R&D work back to the pivotal importance that it plays in serving patients and communities. Ultimately medicine and life sciences need top quality data to leverage innovation and progress to improve lives, and Kerrie embodies excellence in the delivery of this endeavour.”
