RBFT Professors of the University of Reading
Five consultants at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust have been appointed to professorship roles at the University of Reading. In partnership between both organisations, the consultants will be seconded to professorships at the University where they will be leading clinical research for their respective departments and the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust overall.
Professor Mark Little, Consultant Radiologist, University Department of Radiology &
Professor of Radiology, University of Reading
Mark is a highly experienced and revered consultant interventional and diagnostic radiologist and is recognised as one of the most experienced clinicians performing prostate artery embolization (PAE) in the world. Professor Little has worked as a Consultant Radiologist at the Trust since 2017 and took up the mantle of research lead within the University Department of Radiology in 2018. He was awarded the NIHR Research Rising Star award in 2018, and the CVIR editors medal for best peer-reviewed publication in 2022. Alongside his busy clinical practice, he is the current member of the editorial board for CVIR, the largest interventional radiology journal in Europe, as well as the chair of the research committee for the British Society of Interventional Radiology (BSIR). In December 2024, Mark was awarded the title of Professor of Radiology by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading.
Professor Liza Keating, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, University Department of Emergency Medicine & Professor of Emergency Medicine, University of Reading
Liza is a consultant in emergency medicine and critical care at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust where, since 2012, she has been the research lead for the emergency department. Liza was a Royal College of Emergency Medicine Associate Professor from 2018 – 2022 and since 2023 has been a Emergency Medicine Journal Decision Editor. She has an interest in pain research and is a member of the National Hip Fracture Database Advisory Group. In December 2024, Liza was awarded the title of Professor of Emergency Medicine by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading.
Professor Antoni (Toni) Chan, Consultant Rheumatologist, University Department of Rheumatology &
Professor of Rheumatology and Translational Medicine
I am a consultant rheumatologist and specialist general physician. I specialise in all rheumatological conditions including joint pain, swelling and stiffness. I qualified in medicine in 1997 with a commendation from the University of Aberdeen. I obtained my membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 2000 and went on to do my specialist rheumatology training in Oxford. I was awarded the Arthritis Research UK (ARUK) Clinical Research Fellowship from 2003 to 2006 when I completed my laboratory and clinical research into the immunology of rheumatic diseases. I was awarded a PhD for my doctoral work.
I was appointed Consultant Rheumatologist and Physician at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in 2007. I am a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), member of the British Society of Immunology and examiner of the MRCP examinations. I am a primary investigator for clinical research studies that I hope will result in newer and more effective treatments for my patients.
In December 2024, Toni was awarded the title of Professor of Rheumatology and Translational Medicine by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading.
Professor Neil Ruparelia, Consultant Cardiologist, University Department of Cardiology &
Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Reading
Neil was awarded his medical degree from University College London in 2004 and an intercalated degree (BSc) in Medical Law receiving numerous prizes and subsequently completed specialist training in general cardiology and specialist coronary and structural through dedicated interventional fellowships in Oxford, London and Milan, Italy. He was awarded a DPhil (PhD) from Balliol College, University of Oxford funded by a British Heart Foundation Clinical Research Fellowship and a MSc in interventional cardiology from the San Raffaele Scientific Instiitute in Milan, Italy. He was also the recipient of a British Heart Foundation travel fellowship to the Broad Institute (MIT) and Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA).
He is the winner of numerous prizes including President’s Gold Medical in Cardiology from the Royal Society of Medicine and investigator prizes from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), American Heart Association (AHA).
He is an author of >150 publications including original papers, editorials, review articles and book chapters and is regularly invited to speak at both national and International conferences and act as a reviewer for a number of international medical journals.
In 2017 he was awarded Fellowship of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC) and appointed Consultant Cardiologist between the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading and the Hammersmith Hospital, London.
In 2018, he was appointed Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London.
In 2020, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP).
Professor Matthew Frise, Consultant in Acute Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, University Department of Critical Care Medicine &
Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Reading
I read medicine as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge before moving to Oxford for my clinical studies, which I completed in 2004. Towards the end of my postgraduate medical training I undertook a DPhil in Professor Robbins’ group examining the role of iron deficiency in human hypoxia physiology.
I now work full time in the NHS as a Consultant in Acute Medicine and Intensive Care at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, and remain actively involved in research with a particular focus on iron homeostasis and cardiopulmonary pathophysiology. In December 2024, Matthew was awarded the title of Professor of Intensive Care Medicine by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Reading.