Many congratulations to members of the University of Warwick community who have been announced as recipients of the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list announced 9 October 2020.

Professor Debra Bick, Deputy Pro Dean for Research at Warwick Medical School has been awarded an OBE for services to midwifery.

Commenting on her award, Debra said:

"It’s been a very difficult year, particularly for those providing frontline healthcare services, so I feel even more honoured that this award recognises the importance of midwifery. Midwives can and do make such a huge difference to women’s experiences of birth and much of my research to date has informed how we can enable women to have better physical and mental health after giving birth. I’ve had some fantastic mentors and colleagues and this is a credit to the support they, together with my family and friends, have offered me in my career. I’m also delighted that this award will show the importance of the clinical trials we lead here at Warwick, including in maternity care, which are so important to patients, clinicians and wider NHS."

Professor Sudhesh Kumar, Dean of Warwick Medical School said:

"This well-deserved honour acknowledges that Professor Debra Bick’s vital research work on academic midwifery research, maternal health, maternity research and postnatal care. It has been invaluable not just to colleagues, students, and health professionals here at Warwick Medical School and the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, it has made a significant contribution to improving postnatal care and maternal health across the UK and beyond."

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Ms Rosie Drinkwater, Group Finance Director, has been awarded an OBE for services to Higher Education, Innovation and Enterprise.

Commenting on her award Rosie said:

"This is a team award for the amazing colleagues, family and friends who have supported me over the last 27 years, and in particular WMG’s founder, the late Lord Bhattacharyya, who was a significant driving force in my career.”

Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor said:

"This honour rightly marks all Rosie has done and is doing, not just for the University of Warwick, but for our city and region. She played a significant role in the establishment of the National Automotive Innovation Centre here on the University of Warwick campus, further enhancing Coventry’s role as a UK motor city. She is a trustee of the WMG Academy for Young Engineers with schools in Coventry and Solihull, and she also serves on the Coventry City of Culture’s Audit, Finance and Risk committee, just to name a few of many ways she has served Coventry, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.”

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Also congratulations to Professor Ramesh Arasaradnam, Honorary Professor, Warwick Medical School and Research Lead and Consultant Gastroenterologist, UHCW NHS Trust, who has been awarded an OBE for services to the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ramesh commented:

"I am still very much in shock to be bestowed such an honour, but very pleased. I am still trying to digest the news and am pleased to have national recognition of work undertaken for the greater good of the nation. I am hugely grateful to all of my colleagues for support during the COVID-19 pandemic."

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Debra Bick, Deputy Pro Dean for Research, Warwick Medical School.

Rosie Drinkwater, Group Finance Director.

Professor Ramesh Arasaradnam, Honorary Professor, Warwick Medical School.