Professional Services and Administration Staff
Meet the Professional Services and Administration Team at the Department of Veterinary Medicine
The Department Professional Services Team provide management and administrative support to the academic leadership of the Department as well as strategic direction and administrative support for the research, teaching activities and with some crossover with The Queen's Veterinary School Hospital, The School of Biological Sciences and the wider University.
Alex Drury - Business Operations Manager
Contact: bom@vet.cam.ac.uk
Working closely with the Head of Department as part of the Senior Management Team, the Business and Operations Manager (BOM) is responsible for helping to shape and implement the Department's overall strategy and supports the planning and implementation of new developments. The BOM manages delivery of the administration and services of the Department, striving for continuous improvement, as well as ensuring that there are appropriate systems in place to meet the Department’s operational requirements and contributing to the School of Biological Sciences' strategy for integrated and sustainable services/operations.
Tutorial Office
Katheryn Ayres - Veterinary Studies Programme Manager
The Veterinary Studies Programme Manager heads up the tutorial office team and works as a key member of the Department’s senior administrative team, reporting to the Business Operations Manager. The role holder has responsibility for the co-ordination of responses to internal, external and national exercises, e.g. documentation for Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Visitation (accreditation), internal University reviews of teaching and assessment; for the co-ordination of the administrative support for teaching, monitoring, examination and outreach activities in the Department at undergraduate level; and for collaborating in the development and implementation of veterinary education policy within the Department.
Contact: tutorial.office@vet.cam.ac.uk
Mark Phillips - Quality Assurance Co-ordinator (Final VetMB), Vet School Tutorial Office
Contact: tutorial.office@vet.cam.ac.uk
A member of the Vet School Tutorial Office, the Quality Assurance Coordinator works with the Deputy Director of Teaching (Quality Assurance) and other members of the teaching management team to co-ordinate quality assurance systems and processes relating to the Final VetMB degree programme course on behalf of the Department to inform academic exercises relating to professional accreditation, academic audit, and course approval and reviews. The QA Coordinator develops and maintains systems and procedures for effective quality assurance for the delivery of the learning and teaching for the veterinary degree programme at Cambridge.
Iwona Bień - Assessment & Quality Assurance Administrator
Contact: tutorial.office@vet.cam.ac.uk
The Assessment & Quality Assurance Administrator provides administrative support to the veterinary course in the areas of assessment and quality assurance and contributes as a member of the teaching support team to ensure the smooth and efficient operation of assessment and quality assurance processes and the alignment of the veterinary course with the requirements of professional accrediting bodies. Iwona is responsible for curating the question banks for Part I examinations and provides administrative support for the standard setting of those examinations.
Joanna Hudson - Communications and Engagement Manager
Contact: vetcomms@vet.cam.ac.uk
The Communications & Engagement Manager provides both internal and external communications and marketing support to the Department, research community and the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital. Joanna is responsible for planning and implementing communications plans and activities to support the strategy and vision of both the Department and the hospital, as well as day-to-day running of the communications channels, such as the external-facing website, social media accounts and intranet.
Sinead Sheerin - PA Head of the Department and Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science
Contact: hodsec@vet.cam.ac.uk
Sinead provides PA support to Professor Mark Holmes, Head of the Department and Dean, and Professor James Wood, Alborada Professor of Equine and Farm Animal Science. This involves complex diary management, travel arrangements, financial administration, event planning for the RCVS Admissions Ceremony, disseminating information and ensuring deadlines are met in a timely manner. She also provides administrative support to several committees within the Department, including the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Ethics and Welfare Committee.
HR Team
Contact: qvsh.hr@vet.cam.ac.uk
The HR Manager, plays a pivotal role in executing strategies that align with both departmental and University objectives. Working closely with senior leadership and the finance team, she oversees recruitment, contracts, staff welfare, and provides expert HR guidance. By managing the Senior HR Coordinator and HR Administrator, The HR Manager ensures an effective recruitment process and delivers proactive HR support. The HR Manager advises on HR policies, empowering managers with the necessary skills and tools to achieve their team goals. From HR planning to employee development, she ensures full compliance with University guidelines and regulations. Additionally, the HR Manager manages induction, probation, appraisals, payroll, and the leaver process, collaborates closely with the Immigration Compliance Team, and updates local procedures as required. They also oversee the Casual Worker System to ensure timely worker setup and accurate timesheet approvals.
Sophie Giddings - HR Administrator | QVSH Clinical HR
Contact: qvsh.hr@vet.cam.ac.uk
In her capacity as HR Administrator, Sophie supports University HR policies and procedures for all employees and scholars working in the clinical team at Queens Veterinary School Hospital (QVSH). These policies and procedures cover recruitment, onboarding, offboarding, absences, appraisal records, and contributing to the identification of process changes. Sophie is the initial point of contact for HR-related enquiries within the department, and she offers administrative and secretarial support to other members of the HR team to ensure that all Department needs are met.
Research, Enterprise and Postgraduate Education Team
Fiona Roby - Research and Postgraduate Coordinator
grants@vet.cam.ac.uk (research grant applications)
postgraduates@vet.cam.ac.uk (postgraduate matters)
researchadmin@vet.cam.ac.uk (everything else!)
Fiona supports the Department’s Director of Postgraduate Education with the administration of the Department’s MPhil and PHD programmes and is the first point of contact for applicants, students, staff and central administration for postgraduate issues. Fiona also works closely with the Research Strategy Facilitator and underpins the mechanisms for securing research income, providing advice and support to members of the department considering and applying for funding at every stage of the pre-award and grant set-up processes. Additionally, she organises research related activities within the department such as seminar programmes and research afternoons and manages the administration of Research visitors to the department.
Margarida Rodrigues - Research Strategy Facilitator
Contact: mr682@cam.ac.uk
Margarida contributes to the design and delivery of the Department’s research strategy, providing strategic oversight across research activities and fostering a positive, inclusive research culture. She serves as Secretary to the Research Oversight Committee (ROC), with responsibility for strategic coordination, communications, and support across the full ROC remit, including research strategy, income and expenditure, fellowship recruitment and support, internal funding calls, equipment planning and research facilities, space allocation, and REF. Margarida leads the Department’s approach to research impact and brings specialist expertise in developing and sustaining strategic academic partnerships (UK and international), industry engagement - both embedded and external - and interdisciplinary collaboration, strengthening institutional research excellence and long‑term societal and economic impact.