Saturday, 14 June 2025
An expert in medical education from the University of Nottingham has been awarded an MBE in this year’s Birthday Honours.
Jaspal Singh Taggar, Professor of Primary Care and Medical Education, Head of Undergraduate Primary Care Education and Director of the Primary Care Education Unit at the University, as well as a practising GP, has been recognised for his services to General Practice and General Practise Teaching.
Jaspal is a nationally recognised leader across medical education and research, and his innovative thinking has led to the next generation of medics being trained to an exceptionally high standard.
As Head of Undergraduate GP Education, Jaspal is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership, quality assurance and governance of a highly successful award-winning team delivering exceptional quality student-focused clinical training.
He has an exceptional track record of leading innovations in medical education, which included co-developing a national education virtual learning platform of authentic GP consultations for clinical learning across all UK medical schools, developing and implementing innovations to enable GP registrars to train and supervise medical students, and co-leading the design and implementation e-learning resources to improve patient and prescribing safety.
His strong leadership has enabled excellence in culture to transcend primary care, delivering greater diversity in research and medical education, and supporting development of the next generation of academic GPs. He has also led the development of education and research services to ensure millions of pounds of public funding is safeguarded and equitably deployed across General Practice, ultimately to the benefit of patient care.
Jaspal led Primary Care for the Research Delivery Network to improve the accessibility of research for patients through developing IT solutions that enabled equitable and scalable research delivery across the East Midlands and increasing the number of primary care organisations that deliver research by nearly 300%.
His achievements are recognised nationally, for example having recently been awarded Principal Fellowship of Advanced HE and holding two Lord Dearing Awards – both as an individual and team leader, and he is an invited international external examiner in medical education.
I am deeply humbled by receiving this award in recognition for my leadership as an academic General Practitioner. As a clinician, educator and researcher, I have been very fortunate to lead and work with so many amazing people and, through these teams, we have achieved so much to ultimately benefit our patients, peers and communities.”
Professor Jane Norman, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Nottingham, said: “I am thrilled and extremely proud to be able to congratulate Professor Jaspal Singh Taggar on being awarded this MBE.
“To have someone with his talent and innovative thinking at the University is truly inspiring for the future generations of medics who he works with. Not only is he an inspiring leader in medical education, but he is also a leader in research, and this award is truly deserved.”
Update Saturday 14 June: Professor Alan Perkins, Emeritus Professor of Medical Physics, was awarded an MBE for services to patient care and clinical science in recognition of his work in medical physics and radiological sciences in the University of Nottingham's School of Medicine and at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Professor Alan Perkins, Emeritus Professor, School of Medicine
Professor Perkins worked for almost 40 years in Medical Physics at NUH NHS Trust, specialising in clinical nuclear medicine. He was appointed as the first Professor of Medical Physics in the School of Medicine in 1999 and has undertaken extensive research and development work with clinical, academic and industrial collaborators in nuclear medicine, gastroenterology, radiopharmacology, drug delivery and radiation protection. This resulted in authorship of over 250 peer-reviewed publications and 6 published books.
Professor Perkins was a member of the team that established the PET-CT diagnostic imaging centre at the Nottingham City Hospital Campus, a facility that has transformed the management of patients with cancer in Nottingham and the surrounding area. For over 9 years Professor Perkins was the UK representative on the High-Level Group for the Security of Medical Radioisotope Supplies at the OECD, ensuring the provision of medical radioisotopes for patient services.
He is a Past President of the British Nuclear Medicine Society and was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 2011. In 2013 he was awarded the British Nuclear Medicine Society, Norman Veall Medal for outstanding scientific contribution to nuclear medicine and in 2020 was awarded a Healthcare Science Lifetime Achievement Award from NHS England.
Story credits
More information is available from Professor Jaspal Taggar at jaspal.taggar@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 97 in the world and 17th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the third most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2024 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
More news…