SW AHSN appoints new chief executive, Jon Siddall

The South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) is delighted to announce Jon Siddall as its new chief executive. Jon (pictured, right) joins the organisation with strong experience in health innovation, strategy and building partnerships to improve population health.
Jon has spent the past three years as the director of funding at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, helping the charity become recognised as a pioneer in urban health. He led the design and development of the foundation’s £150 million portfolio of urban health programmes focused on some of the biggest health challenges facing cities around the world, including childhood obesity, air pollution and multiple long-term conditions.
During his time at the charity, Jon built a credible, multi-disciplinary team in the field of urban health. His team established partnerships ranging from experimental projects with community organisations and commercial ventures, through to large-scale collaborations with major corporate and statutory sector bodies. Together they helped to draw attention to the challenges of urban health by grounding their work in the reality of people’s lives and building partnerships to show that progress is possible.
Prior to his position at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity Jon spent four years at the SW AHSN, most recently as director of innovation when he led the development of successful programmes including Transform Ageing, the Health & Wellbeing Challenge Fund (South West) and the SW AHSN’s partnership with the Office for Life Sciences.
Jon has also held a range of non-executive advisory roles, including seats on the advisory boards of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, SBRI Healthcare, the Health Innovation Network, the research and development board of Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and the Taskforce on Multiple Conditions.
Dr Alastair Riddell, chair of the board of directors of SW AHSN, said:
“Jon’s career path stands him in excellent stead to lead the organisation. After four years of outstanding performance in the early life of the SW AHSN, Jon left to take up a new role with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity in 2017. There he has gained invaluable experience working at senior level in a large, reputable foundation driving innovation in challenging health environments.
Jon returns home to the South West with an exceptional track record in scaling solutions to complex problems to improve the health of people. He has a deep understanding of our ethos and a real sense of what the SW AHSN can achieve. We are delighted to welcome Jon back as our new chief executive to lead large-scale change in health and care in our region.”
The SW AHSN is working to build 10 million more years of healthy, happy life for people in the South West by 2035, by placing innovation in health and care where it needs to be. Over the past few years the organisation has led the spread of innovative local and national programmes across Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Jon’s leadership will further enhance the SW AHSN’s work across the region, to improve the health and wellbeing of those who live here.
Jon said:
“It is a huge privilege to be joining as chief executive at such an exciting time for the organisation. The SW AHSN has made great progress over the last few years supporting innovation to improve the health of people in the region. I look forward to building on its achievements and working with partners to tackle the major health and care challenges in the South West – a place that I have always been very proud to call my home.”
Jon will begin as chief executive officer of the SW AHSN in late April, when he will begin reconnecting with partners across the South West and forging new links to lead the continuation of the SW AHSN’s work in the region.