{{Short description|British surgeon and life peer (born 1964)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Lord Kakkar | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KG|KBE|PC}} | image = Official portrait of Lord Kakkar crop 2, 2023.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2023 | office = Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission | term_start = 3 October 2016 | term_end = 31 December 2022 | predecessor = Christopher Stephens | successor = Helen Pitcher | office1 = Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission | term_start1 = 1 October 2013 | term_end1 = 25 October 2018 | predecessor1 = The Lord Jay of Ewelme | successor1 = The Lord Bew | office2 = Member of the House of Lords | status2 = Lord Temporal | term_label2 = Life peerage | term_start2 = 22 March 2010 | term_end2 = | birth_name = Ajay Kumar Kakkar | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1964|04|28}} | birth_place = Dartford, Kent, England | death_date = | death_place = | party = None (crossbencher) | education = Alleyn's School | alma_mater = King's College London<br />Imperial College London | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | partner = | profession = }} '''Ajay Kumar Kakkar, Baron Kakkar''' (born 28 April 1964) is an emeritus professor of surgery at University College London and a life peer.
==Early life and education== Ajay Kakkar was born in 1964 in Dartford to professor of vascular surgery Vijay Kakkar and his wife, a consultant anaesthetist.<ref name=EP2011>{{cite journal |title=European Perspectives |journal=Circulation |date=8 February 2011 |volume=123 |issue=5 |pages=f25–f30 |doi=10.1161/CIR.0b013e3182044d5c |doi-access=free }}</ref>
He was educated at Alleyn's School in London before gaining admission to King's College London, where he gained first a BSc degree in basic medical sciences with pharmacology in 1985 and then an MBBS medical degree (with Distinction in Surgery) in 1988. Subsequently, he was awarded a PhD by Imperial College London in 1998, with his thesis titled "Tissue factor, thrombin generation and cancer".<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Kakkar |first1=Ajay Kumar |title=Tissue factor, thrombin generation and cancer. |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286352 |website=E-Thesis Online Service |publisher=The British Library Board |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=1998|type=Ph.D }}</ref><ref name="CV">[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmpolcon/600/60004.htm Lord Kakkar's Curriculum Vitae] - website of the Parliament of the United Kingdom</ref>
Kakkar was elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) in 1992 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE) in 2011.<ref name="CV" /> He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).<ref>[https://acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/fellow/Ajay Kumar-Kakkar-00132671 Fellow: Professor Lord Ajay Kumar Kakkar KG KBE FMedSci] - website of the Academy of Medical Sciences]</ref>
His father was a pioneer in the use of low-molecular weight heparin therapy,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/vijay-kakkar-helped-prevent-deadly-blood-clots-during-surgery-1479481203|title=Vijay Kakkar Helped Prevent Deadly Blood Clots During Surgery|last=Hagerty|first=James R.|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=18 November 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> and he followed in his footsteps as a surgeon and medical researcher.
==Career== Kakkar is Chair of King's Health Partners, the Academic Health Science Centre,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.kingshealthpartners.org/latest/3359-rt-hon-professor-the-lord-ajay-kakkar-pc-appointed-independent-chair | title=King's Health Partners News }}</ref> Director of the Thrombosis Research Institute,<ref>[http://www.tri-london.ac.uk/default.asp Thrombosis Research Institute] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223042202/http://www.tri-london.ac.uk/default.asp |date=23 February 2010 }}</ref> London, and lectures and publishes widely on his specialism. He has worked with the NHS on its strategy to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE). He is a Commissioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, former chair of the Board of Governors at Alleyn's School,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alleyns.org.uk/school.aspx?sid=2 |title=Alleyn's School |access-date=2010-03-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509144903/http://www.alleyns.org.uk/school.aspx?sid=2 |archive-date=2009-05-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Dulwich, a director of Howard de Walden Estates Limited (the company which owns the freehold to the Howard de Walden Estate, spanning the majority of Marylebone),<ref>{{cite web | title=HOWARD DE WALDEN ESTATES LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK | url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00781024/officers }}</ref> and a Trustee of the Dulwich Estate. In December 2022 he succeeded Bernard Taylor<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Annual Report and Accounts |url=https://royalcommission1851.org/uploads/publications/Signed-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2022_2023-07-19-110959_waxi.pdf |access-date=28 April 2024}}</ref> as chairman of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://royalcommission1851.org/about-us |access-date=28 April 2024}}</ref>
Kakkar was created a life peer on 22 March 2010 as '''Baron Kakkar''', of Loxbeare in the County of Devon,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=59372 |date=25 March 2010 |page=5233}}</ref> and introduced in the House of Lords the same day.<ref>{{cite web|author =((Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Lords, Westminster)) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100322-0001.htm#1003222000324 |title=Lords Hansard text for 22 March 2010 |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |date=2010-03-22 |accessdate=2014-03-25}}</ref> He sits on the crossbenches. He was Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission from 2013 to 2018.<ref>{{cite web|author =((Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Lords, Westminster)) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100322-0001.htm#1003222000324 |title=Lords Appointments |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk |date=2010-03-22 |accessdate=2014-03-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lordsappointments.independent.gov.uk/ |title=Message from the Chairman |publisher=House of Lords Appointments Commission |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217191418/http://lordsappointments.independent.gov.uk/ |archivedate=2010-02-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmpubadm/1142/114203.htm|title=House of Lords Appointment Commission|publisher=UK Parliament|accessdate=24 December 2018}}</ref>
Kakkar has been noted for his work promoting British business as an ambassador for the United Kingdom. He took 11 trips in 2014 to promote business relations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11131667/Revealed-the-business-men-selling-the-UK-to-the-world.html |title=Revealed: the business men selling the UK to the world |publisher=The Telegraph |accessdate=2014-10-31}}</ref>
He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to healthcare and for public service.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63571|supp=y|page=N8|date=1 January 2022}}</ref> Kakkar served as Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission from 2016 to 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lord Ajay Kakkakr biography |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ajay-kakkar |website=Gov.uk |access-date=22 March 2024}}</ref> On St George's Day 2024, he was appointed Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (KG).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royal.uk/appointments|title=New appointments to various Orders of Chivalry announced|work=The Royal Family|date=23 April 2024|access-date=23 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64378|page=8190|date=25 April 2024}}</ref>
==Arms== {{Infobox COA wide |image = 400px |escutcheon = Argent two chevronels between three cornflowers Azure. |crest = An eagle reguardant wings expanded Or resting the dexter claws on a roundel per fess Argent and Azure. |supporters = Dexter a unicorn Argent armed crined and unguled Or sinister a tiger Or striped Sable. |motto = Pervicax Semper (Always Firm)<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage |date=2019 |page=3186}}</ref> |coronet=A coronet of a Baron |orders=Circlet of a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter, insignia of a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-other}} {{s-bef|before=The Lord Jay of Ewelme}} {{s-ttl|title=Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission|years=2013–2018}} {{s-aft|after=The Lord Bew}} {{s-prec|uk}} {{s-bef|before=The Lord Hall of Birkenhead}} {{s-ttl|title=Gentlemen'''<br />''Baron Kakkar'' '''}} {{s-fol|after=The Lord Bichard}} {{s-end}}
{{Members of the Order of the Garter}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kakkar, Ajay}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at Alleyn's School Category:Alumni of King's College London Category:Fellows of King's College London Category:Alumni of Imperial College London Category:Crossbench life peers Category:Peers recommended by the House of Lords Appointments Commission Category:English surgeons Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:English people of Indian descent Category:English people of Punjabi descent Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Dartford Category:Academics of University College London Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II Category:British people of Punjabi descent Category:People associated with the University of Lincoln