The Rt Hon Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham KBE will receive the third RCSI honorary doctorate at the conferring ceremony being held in the National Concert Hall on Thursday, 6 June 2013. Lord Ara Darzi, an alumnus of RCSI, is also scheduled to give the keynote address to approximately 260 graduates.

Prof Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said: "Lord Darzi was chosen to receive the RCSI honorary doctorate to recognise the outstanding contributions he has made in the fields of medicine and surgery. He has made significant contributions towards achieving best surgical practice through innovation in surgery and enhancing the safety and quality of healthcare. His contribution within these research fields has been outstanding, publishing more than 800 peer-reviewed research papers. He was knighted for his services in medicine and surgery in 2002. He retains strong links with RCSI and regularly contributes at RCSI events. We are honoured that he will join us and address our 2013 graduates on this special day in their professional lives."

Lord Ara Darzi graduated from RCSI in 1984. He holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College, London and is an Honorary Consultant Surgeon at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden NHS Trust Hospitals. In October 2010 Lord Darzi was appointed as Director for the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College. In 2012 he took up the role of Chair, Imperial College Health Partners.

He was knighted for his services in Medicine and Surgery in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II. Lord Darzi was introduced to the United Kingdom's House of Lords in 2007 as Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham and appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health. He relinquished this role in July 2009. Under appointment (July 2009 - March 2013) as United Kingdom's Global Ambassador for Health and Life Sciences, Lord Darzi took an active international role in outlining and shaping healthcare policy. Lord Darzi was appointed as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in June 2009. Recently Lord Darzi was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 2010 RCSI was granted independent degree awarding status by the State. This followed a quality approval process culminating in the Government approving the bye-law, which enables the College to award degrees alongside its traditional powers to award licentiates. The first Honorary Doctorate was awarded in 2011 to former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese. In 2012 Professor Fr. Michael Kelly, Jesuit and internationally renowned expert on HIV/AIDS was awarded the second RCSI honorary doctorate.

At the conferring ceremony on the 6th June candidates will be conferred with degrees in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics (MB, BCh and BAO), degrees of Masters in Pharmacy (MPharm), degrees in Masters of Science (MSc), degrees of Doctor of Medicine (MD) and degrees of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).