New Year Honours for Downing alumni

New Year Honours for Downing alumni

Congratulations to Downing alumni; Dr Lucy Lord (1981) and Dr Joel Meyer (1997) who were both awarded MBE’s in the King’s New Year Honours list.

Dr Joel Meyer

Joel is an intensive care consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and receives his MBE for services to the NHS during Covid-19.
Joel was co-founder of the Life Lines project, which helped families connect with loved ones in intensive care during Covid-19 pandemic.

“I feel amazed to have been nominated for this exceptional honour," Joel said.

"At the start of the pandemic, when Prof Louise Rose and I came up with ‘Life Lines’, a way of keeping families and patients connected virtually while critically ill in intensive care, we did not anticipate the speed, scale of impact and sustained success of the project across the NHS."

Dr Lucy Lord

Lucy is Co-Founder of the Patient Care Foundation in Hong Kong and Co-Founder and Executive Chair of Mind Hong Kong. She receives her award for services to Health in Hong Kong.

During the 34 years she has worked in Hong Kong, Lucy has championed the importance of maternal mental health and the significant contribution this makes to the wellbeing of families. Topics Lucy successfully campaigned on included the need for hospitals to carry essential supplies of rhesus - negative blood, access to fertility care for the LGBT community and more compassionate care for women who suffered stillbirths.

Lucy also founded one of Hong Kong’s leading mental health charities, Mind Hong Kong. Through this charity, issues around mental health stigmatisation within society and a significant under-provision of vital support have been addressed in the country.

Published 25 January 2023