Prestigious award for THIS Director, Mary Dixon-Woods
On receiving her award, Mary, who is also Professorial Fellow at Homerton College, Cambridge, said, “I am absolutely delighted to receive an honorary doctorate from the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. My mission in life is to improve the evidence base for improving quality and safety in healthcare. I have the great privilege of working with exceptional people at The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge to achieve this. It’s wonderful that the contribution our work has made has been recognised by such a distinguished medical school.”
This honour adds another to Mary’s extensive list, which includes being made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, as well as being awarded Honorary Fellowships from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Physicians, and the Royal College of General Practitioners.
The RCSI award is something that means a lot to Mary, who was born and raised in Ireland, along with her six brothers and sisters. Mary has fond memories of growing up in a midlands town where she attended the equivalent of comprehensive school. She particularly remembers the opportunities and support she experienced as a young person. “I was very lucky to benefit from a highly supportive family and excellent education at every stage,” she recalls, “and I was never left in any doubt about what women could achieve. I had great role models to inspire me, including fantastic teachers.”
When asked what advice she would give those in earlier stages of their research and academic career, Mary said that she firmly believes in the importance of staying curious. She adds, “I was fortunate to learn about the importance of curiosity from an early age: intellectual curiosity, curiosity about yourself, curiosity about others. Science is all about structuring curiosity using methods and theories and doing that well is what makes a good researcher. But what makes a great research leader is curiosity about yourself, so you’re constantly growing and developing as a person, and curiosity about others, so you’re learning all the time and giving back.”
As Director of The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute, Mary’s work involves generating a high quality evidence-base to support improvement in the organisation, quality and safety of healthcare. Her work focuses on understanding problems, co-designing solutions, and evaluation of quality and safety improvement interventions and programmes.
Professor Mary Dixon-Woods has championed high quality evidence-based research that has contributed significantly to pivotal healthcare policy, inquiries and reports. We are proud to acknowledge her exceptional contributions to quality and safety in healthcare and she is a most worthy recipient of the RCSI Honorary Doctorate in Science, the highest academic award of our university.”
Professor Cathal Kelly, Vice Chancellor of RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Founded in 1784 as the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland with responsibility for training surgeons in Ireland, today RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is an innovative, not-for-profit, international university exclusively focused on driving improvements in human health worldwide through education, research and engagement.
RCSI is ranked fifth in the world for its contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3, Good Health and Well-being, in the Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings 2024.