Dr Carol Clugston is Dean of Corporate Engagement & Innovation and Chief Operating Officer of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, the largest of four Colleges in the University of Glasgow, with over 2,500 staff and an annual turnover exceeding £230M.
As Dean of Corporate Engagement & Innovation, Dr Clugston leads the College’s Innovation, Engagement and Enterprise Strategy. She is Director and SRO of the ‘Living Laboratory for Precision Medicine’, the largest of UKRI’s Wave 1 Strength in Places Fund projects (with a total investment value of £90M). The Living Laboratory is rapidly developing a life sciences industry ecosystem around the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, ensuring that Glasgow is the ideal location for companies to innovate, develop and commercialise precision medicine technologies for a global market and supporting Scotland as the location of choice for inward investment. The Living Laboratory has already increased cross-sector collaboration and is turning research into diagnostics and innovations that benefit patients whilst making savings for the NHS locally and across Scotland.
Dr Clugston’s interests include the role of universities in supporting innovation and driving regional inclusive growth. She champions the University’s ‘triple helix’ partnership with industry and the NHS, developing award-winning infrastructure for innovation, including the Clinical Innovation Zone for industry and the Imaging Centre of Excellence (‘ICE’, incorporating Scotland’s first 7 Tesla MRI scanner). She has also played a key role in the development of the Precision Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre, located within the University’s Clinical Innovation Zone.
Most recently, Dr Clugston has played a leading role in the development and running of the Lighthouse Laboratory in Glasgow, a national Covid-19 diagnostic testing facility, now employing over 700 trained staff and which has analysed over 25 million Covid tests since it was established in April 2020.
Dr Clugston was awarded the prestigious Lord Provost’s Award from the City of Glasgow in 2017, in the category of health, in recognition of the leading role she played at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. She was also the 2018 recipient of the 30% Club Scholarship to the London Business School’s Senior Executive Programme. Externally, Dr Clugston is a Trustee of Glasgow Science Centre, Board member of Precision Medicine Scotland, and was Lay Advisor for the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh until 2020.