Queen Mary Emerita Professor recognised in King’s Birthday Honours
Professor Dame Parveen Kumar, Emerita Professor of Medicine and Education at Queen Mary University of London, and multiple university alumni, have been recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours 2026.
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Professor Dame Parveen Kumar has been awarded a Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire for her services to global medical education and health.
A graduate of St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, one of Queen Mary’s four founding institutions, Parveen worked in the NHS, including at Barts Health NHS Trust, specialising in gastroenterologist for many years. She also conducted a lot of research in this area, with a particular interest in small bowel disorders such as coeliac disease.
In addition to working in hospitals, Parveen spent a large component of her career educating medical students, including at Queen Mary, and improving medical education more broadly. She teaches, lectures and examines medical students, trainees and refugee doctors, is a senior examiner for the MRCP, MBBS and other post-graduate degrees at home and abroad and was the academic sub-dean and later Director of Postgraduate Medical Education for Queen Mary’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
As a student, Parveen found medical textbooks dull and so decided to improve them. Working with a colleague, she co-authored and co-edited the textbook “Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine” (currently in its 11th Edition) which is used worldwide. She has also published and co-edited many other medical books.
Speaking on her recognition in the King’s Honours list, Parveen said: “I am delighted and humbled to be recognised in The King’s Birthday Honours list. I am passionate about medical education and global health and ensuring that we continuously evolve and improve how we educate future generations of doctors. This recognition also belongs to the medical school and my colleagues and friends who have supported me over the years. Thank you all.”
Professor Colin Bailey CBE, President and Principal of Queen Mary, said: “On behalf of myself and the wider Queen Mary community I would like to congratulate Professor Dame Kumar on being recognised with a Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in The King’s Birthday Honours. Parveen’s outstanding contributions to medical education throughout her career have paved the way for thousands of young medical students both at Queen Mary and across the globe, and it is fantastic to see her passion and dedication recognised in this way.”
In addition to her contributions to medical education and work as a doctor and researcher, Parveen has been:
- President of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), where she set up the Global health project.
- President of the Medical Women’s Federation (MWF) and has promoted women in medicine all her life.
- President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund (RMBF) where she helped doctors in distressed situations for many years.
- a Non-Executive Director of the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
- Chairman, Vice-Chairman and a member of the Medicines Commission UK
- President of the British Medical Association.
- an elected Council member of the British Society of Gastroenterology
- an office holder at the Royal College of Physicians, including those of Censor, Director of Continuing Professional Development and as Academic Vice- President and senior censor
- a Non-Executive Director on an acute hospital Trust board
She has also served on many other committees including Modernising Medical careers, London Modernisation boards, Northern Ireland Distinction and Meritorious Awards committees and is a trustee of multiple charities.
In addition to Parveen’s recognition, a number of Queen Mary alumni were also recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours for 2026.
OBE
- Stephen Akinsanya (LLM, International Dispute Resolution) Barrister, recognised for services to the Prevention of Knife Crime and Youth Violence (London, Greater London)
- David Birkbeck (BA English); Chief Executive, Design for Homes, recognised for services to Housing Design (Dunmow, Essex)
- Alastair Farnsworth (Certificate, Intellectual Property Law); Defence Legal Counsellor, British Defence Staff USA, recognised for services to Defence (Abroad)
- Muhammed Tahir (BSc, Computer Science with Business Studies; MSc, Internet Computing); Managing Director, Tahir Group, recognised for services to Young People and to Social Mobility (London, Greater London)
MBE
- Dr John Buscombe (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery); Lately Consultant in Nuclear Medicine, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, recognised for services to Nuclear Medicine (London, Greater London)
- Barbara Chandler; Design Journalist and Photographer and Founder, Green Grads, recognised for services to the Design Industry (London, Greater London)
- Christine Gibbons (MSc, Global Public Health); Trustee, Parkrun Global, recognised for services to Community Sport and Fitness (Hove, East Sussex)
- Ian Marson (BSc, Economics); Lately Digital Product Manager, Home Office, recognised for services to Migration and Borders Technology (London, Greater London)
- Dr Carl Waldmann (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery); Lately Director, Intensive Care Unit, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, recognised for services to Critically Ill Patients in the NHS (Reading, Berkshire)
Medallists of the Order of the British Empire
- Paul Gates (BSc, Animal Physiology); Vice-Chair, British Association for Immediate Care, recognised for services to Pre-Hospital Critical Care (Rayleigh, Essex)
- Christopher Groombridge (MSc, Trauma Science); Chair, Teeth Team, recognised for services to Child Dental Health Improvement (Market Weighton, East Riding of Yorkshire)