Academy director Ged Byrne has just been awarded a professorship in medical education by The University of Manchester, in part in recognition for his work in setting up the organisation.

Ged led the work to establish the UHSM Academy. which was launched in January 2010 as the only organisation in the UK to provide every aspect of health care education required in a hospital from mandatory fire training to consultant specialty training.

He also pioneered the development of the Universities Medical Assessment Partnership, starting as a collaboration of five medical schools which aimed to improve the quality and standards of medical assessments within the UK. This partnership now includes all the medical schools in the UK and has been renamed the Medical Schools Council Assessment Alliance.

He played an important part in the recent creation of the education arm of the Greater Manchester Health Innovation and Education Cluster, set up to feed innovation swiftly into the NHS. Last year Ged was awarded the National Teaching Fellowship - recognised as the UK’s highest award in the higher education community – for his contribution to medical education.