The Royal Free London (RFL) is delighted to announce the promotion of seven of its clinicians to professors at University College London (UCL).

Dr Axel Bex has been announced as professor of urology, Dr Marianna Fontana as professor of cardiology, Dr Raj Mookerjee as professor of translational hepatology, Dr Emmanouil Tsochatzis as professor of hepatology, Dr Daniel Gale as professor of nephrology, Dr Roby Rakhit as professor of cardiology and Dr Daniel Martin as professor of perioperative and intensive care medicine.

Dr Bex is a urologic surgeon specialising in kidney cancer and is the consultant clinical lead at the specialist centre for kidney cancer at the RFL.

Dr Marianna Fontana is the Director of the UCL CMR unit at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH). Her research interests include CMR with multiparametric mapping and pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of cardiac amyloidosis.

Dr Raj Mookerjee is a hepatologist whose clinical and research interests focus on the complications of chronic liver disease. His expertise is in the areas of portal hypertension and hepatic injuries related to alcohol and fatty liver. He is currently a reader in hepatology at UCL and honorary Skou professor of hepatology in Aarhus, Denmark, where he has an active research collaboration.

Dr Tsochatzis is a senior clinical lecturer and consultant hepatologist with a special interest in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic liver disease, liver cirrhosis and non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis.

Dr Daniel Gale conducts research into genetic kidney disease and runs the genetic kidney disease clinical service for north London that provides care for patients and families with hereditary kidney problems, including polycystic kidney disease, Alport syndrome, unexplained familial kidney failure, renal cancer syndrome and other genetic disorders.

Dr Roby Rakhit is a consultant cardiologist at the RFL and was instrumental in setting up the Royal Free Hospital Heart Attack Centre. He is an expert in interventional cardiology performing PCI (coronary angioplasty and stenting) for the treatment of coronary artery disease.

Dr Daniel Martin OBE is a senior lecturer in the UCL division of surgery and interventional science and director of the UCL centre for altitude, space and extreme environment at the institute of sports exercise and health. He is intensive care led for high consequence infectious diseases at the RFH and Macintosh Professor of Anaesthesia.

To become a professor you need to have had your work peer reviewed, have external and internal referees, have carried out research, teaching, external engagement, and have contributed to the life of the university.

Professor Anthony Schapira, professor of neurology at the Royal Free and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, as well as being director of the Royal Free Campus and vice dean of UCL, said: “I am delighted that so many of my Royal Free London colleagues have attained their professorships. I know that everyone will join me in congratulating them for this significant achievement.”

The promotions are effective from 1 October 2020.