Irene Tracey, PhD
Administrative Accomplishments
Alongside my thirty years working as a pain neuroscientist, I have many years of experience in academic leadership roles that help me prepare for this role. I have been Faculty Chair/Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences at Oxford, Director of the Neuroimaging Centre at Oxford, Council member of British Neuroscience Association and International Association for Study of Pain, Program committee member SfN, SfN-IBRO-FENS leadership, Council member of UK’s Medical Research Council, President of FENS, former head of one of the oldest colleges in Oxford and I currently now lead as Vice-Chancellor (or President) the University of Oxford. These roles have provided opportunities to contribute to the development of neuroscience related strategy, research funding, conferences, careers, mentoring, and publishing within the UK, Europe and the USA.
Degree, Institute, Year Earned
| Degree | Institute | Year Earned |
| BA and MA (Oxon) | University of Oxford | 1989 |
| Doctor of Philosophy (PhD/DPhil) | University of Oxford | 1993 |
Research Areas
I am a neuroimaging neuroscientist with a particular focus on human pain. My research spans basic, translational and clinical science and I combine various techniques (functional/structural neuroimaging and EEG) to better understand acute and chronic pain and the mechanisms that subserve the experience. I also work to determine how anaesthetics produce altered states of consciousness in the human brain through multimodal neuroimaging.
Current Position(s) at Your Current Institution
- Vice-Chancellor (or President) of the University of Oxford & Nuffield Professor Anaesthetic Neuroscience
Memberships
| Organization | Position Held | Year(s) |
| Society for Neuroscience | Member | 2005–present |
| SfN – Program Committee | Member | 2016–2019 |
| SfN – Neuroscience Meeting Software Test Group | Member | 2016–2019 |
| SfN – IBRO FENS Leadership | Member | 2020–2024 |
Service Positions
Editorial Boards:
| Publication | Position Held | Year(s) |
| Oxford University Press | Chair of the Delegates | 2023-current |
Other Service Positions:
| Organization | Position Held | Year(s) |
| FENS | President | 2022–2024 |
| FENS | Past-President | 2024–2026 |
| United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council | Council Member | 2016–2024 |
| MQ Mental Health Charity | Trustee | 2016–2022 |
| Canada Excellence Research Chairs (CERC) Panel | Co-Chair & Member | 2010–2016 |
| British Neuroscience Association | Council Member | 2012–2017 |
| MRC’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Board & NMHB board member | Deputy Chair | 2009–2014 |
| Lundbeck Foundation Brain Prize | Selection Committee | 2015–2023 |
| International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) | Council Member | 2008–2014 |
| IASP Scientific Program Committee Biannual Meeting | Chair | 2012 |
Science Biography
Professor Irene Tracey CBE, FRS, FMedSci., is Vice-Chancellor (President) at the University of Oxford and Professor of Anaesthetic Neuroscience in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, a department she led for several years whilst holding the Nuffield Chair. Irene did her undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford University, Merton College. She was a founding member of the world-leading Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, formerly FMRIB, and was its Director for ten years. Irene has served on many national and international committees, such as the Council of the Medical Research Council and Lundbeck Brain Prize Committee. Until recently she was President of the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies.
Her multidisciplinary research team has contributed to a better understanding of pain perception, pain relief and nociceptive processing within the human central nervous system during acute and chronic pain using advanced neuroimaging techniques and novel paradigm designs. Irene and her team have made several discoveries into how humans perceive pain – a subjective experience that has been difficult to investigate until the advent of neuroimaging methods. In a series of challenging experiments over thirty years, her team has determined how the human brain constructs, modulates and exacerbates the experience of pain in health and disease. Pioneering the use of neuroimaging with novel paradigm designs, they have mechanistically determined how injury, cognition, context and mood alter noxious inputs to change the experience of pain. Her team has also transformed our understanding of how anaesthetics produce altered states of consciousness. They have developed a patented biomarker for depth of anaesthesia that they are currently aiming to commercialise. Their research in pain and anaesthesia spans discovery through translation to industry, the clinic and society.
She has trained over 35 PhD students. She has been awarded many honours, such as: triennial Patrick Wall Medal (2008) and FRCA (2009) from Royal College of Anaesthetists; Fellow Academy of Medical Sciences (2015); Feldberg Foundation Prize (2017); British Neuroscience Association’s Outstanding Contribution to Neuroscience (2018); Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Medical Research (2022); Honorary Fellow Physiological Society (2022); Honorary Membership British Pain Society (2023); Fellow of the Royal Society (2023); Honorary Fellow Royal Society of Medicine (2024).
The full CV for this candidate can be found within the ballot.
