Jessica Corner is Executive Chair of Research England, part of UK Research and Innovation.
Previously she was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham ,
Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Southampton, Director of the National Institute for Health Research Wessex (CLARHC) and Executive Director with responsibility for Improving Cancer Services for charity Macmillan Cancer support.
Jessica has also held academic positions at King’s College London and at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, where she was the first nurse to be appointed to a chair at the Institute. Her own research has focussed on supportive and palliative care in cancer and long term-health outcomes after treatment for cancer. She led some of the first clinical trials of nurse-led care in the world. She was also Registrar for Academy of Medical Sciences.
Jessica was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 2014 for services to health care research and education, elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2015, and elected Fellow of the European Academy in 2019. In 2018, when the UK National Health Service turned 70, Jessica was named as one of the most influential nurses in its history.