The Society awards Honorary Membership to Dr Stephen Webb and Dr Kenneth Baillie
At SOA25, the Society awarded Honorary Membership to Dr Stephen Webb and Dr Kenneth Baillie.
Dr Stephen Webb has made an exceptional and sustained contribution to the Society over more than a decade. Since joining Council in 2014, he has held a series of influential leadership roles, including Chair of the ICS and FICM Joint Standards Committee (2016), Honorary Secretary, Chair of the Standards Division, and the inaugural Chair of the Professional Affairs Division.
In 2020, he was elected President of the Society, guiding the organisation—and the wider critical care community—through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic with calm, thoughtful leadership. He continues to contribute as Chair of the FUSIC Committee.
Beyond the ICS, Dr Webb chairs the UK Critical Care Leadership Forum and balances this with his clinical role as a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Deputy Medical Director at the Royal Papworth Hospital. A pragmatic advisor, supportive mentor and inspiring leader, Dr Webb has had a profound and lasting impact on the development of intensive care medicine in the UK.
Professor Kenneth Baillie is Professor of Experimental Medicine and Co-Director of the Baillie Gifford Pandemic Sciences Hub at the University of Edinburgh. He has been a steadfast supporter of the Intensive Care Society throughout his career, and latterly through his 10-year tenure as Deputy Director and later Director of Research for the Society. He has been instrumental in promoting critical care research in the UK and internationally through his role in the Society, providing mentoring and support for the next generation of investigators.
His programme of research has transformed the scientific landscape. His earlier work identified genetic signatures which make people more susceptible to severe infections such as influenza. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he built on this work to co-lead the ISARIC4C consortium, which rapidly identified clinical risk factors for severe COVID-19 and influenced national and international policy throughout the pandemic.
The GenOMICC study, which he set up and continues to lead, discovered numerous genes increasing the risk of COVID-19, one of which directly led to the identification of baricitinib as a treatment for COVID-19. He played a pivotal role in the RECOVERY and RECOVERY-RS trials which led to the discovery of the first effective treatments for COVID-19, including dexamethasone.
We thank them for their support of the Society over such pivotal years and look forward to their continued contribution to the Intensive Care Society and the wider intensive care community.