Chris Parker
Dr Chris Parker worked in the NHS for 4 years before being commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1985. During 28 years in uniform he served in Europe, Russia, north and central America, the Falkland Islands, the Middle East, Africa and south Asia. He accredited as a consultant in occupational medicine and served on operations in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Also a graduate of the Army Staff College and the Royal Centre for Defence Studies he rose to the rank of Brigadier and filled many senior leadership roles. These included Chief of Staff of the Army Medical Directorate, Commandant of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine and 12 months in Afghanistan as the senior medical commander for the International Security Assistance Force.
Chris was awarded the OBE in 1998 and made a CBE in 2009. From 2010 until his retirement from the Army he was a Queen’s Honorary Physician.
In January 2014 Chris took up his new appointment as the Managing Director of the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network.
