Dr Paul Preston became President of the Council in 2016 having previously served as a member of Council since 2010.

Dr Preston graduated with a PhD in Physiology from University College Cardiff prior to undertaking a post-doctoral fellowship with Hoffman-La Roche in Basle, Switzerland. He has extensive experience in the healthcare sector that includes pharmaceutical research, drug development in an international environment, sales and marketing of drugs and medical consumable products, and hospital management. He completed a successful career lasting almost twenty years at BMI Healthcare, the country’s largest independent hospital group, where he became managing director. During this time he helped to source two university-based research programmes, working with leading academics to form successful independent commercial companies. He went on to work with 3i, a leading venture capital firm, where he contributed sector knowledge in support of the investment teams. He has subsequently worked with a number of private equity companies in the buy-out and management of healthcare businesses.

He is currently chairman of a company providing specialist neurorehabilitation for individuals with acquired brain injury, chairman of a London-based nursing home group, and is involved with a number of other health related projects. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Medicine and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors.