Episode 1: Getting to know the Chair of the Cancer Alliance Board

Taking Control of Cancer

Welcome to episode one of Taking Control of Cancer, the podcast from the North East London Cancer Alliance. In this episode, award-winning former BBC podcast presenter Steve Bland (You, Me and the Big C) is joined by Professor Charles Knight MD FRCP, who is a consultant cardiologist and chief executive of St Bartholomew's Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust AND the chair of the Cancer Alliance board.

Professor Knight takes Steve through his own career, and explains how he came to be involved with the Alliance. He also talks about the challenges the Alliance faces in the incredibly diverse North East London, and the work that's going on to tackle those challenges.

About Professor Knight:

Professor Knight served as honorary secretary of the British Cardiovascular Society from 2008 to 2011 and was associate editor of the journal Heart until 2014. He was a member of the Royal College of Physicians' Cardiology Speciality Advisory Committee.

Professor Knight is a specialist in alcohol septal ablation and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. From 2010 he led the development of the Barts Heart Centre by merging cardiac services from across London to create the largest cardiac centre in the UK. He became the Centre’s first executive director in 2014. In 2015 he was appointed as managing director and then chief executive of St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

In March 2020, Professor Knight was seconded as chief executive officer of NHS Nightingale Hospital London, established to care for patients during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. In July he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in acknowledgment of his role in the NHS’s response to the outbreak. In October 2020 he was awarded an OBE for services to the NHS and people with heart disease.

Find out more about the North East London Cancer Alliance here.