Professor West is Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England. He was educated and trained in London as a Podiatrist and Podiatric Surgeon and worked clinically in the NHS and private/commercial sector from 1980. He entered academia in 1984 as a lecturer, and in 1992 was appointed Dean of the School of Health & Behavioural Science at Huddersfield University. He moved to Bristol in 1995 as the Dean of the Faculty of Health & Social Care at UWE. In 2007 Prof. West was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor at UWE and in May 2008, at the age of 46, appointed Vice-Chancellor. He is a Fellow of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. He serves on a number of national education and research committees advising on the future funding and contracting for health-related programmes and research in England and has continued to develop his research interest in the Diabetic. He is also Vice-Chairman of the South West Strategic Health Authority.