The Global Top 250 Hospitals: Leadership, Reputation and Innovation

Dr Hugh Montgomery is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London (UCL), where he also directs the Centre for Human Health and Performance. He is a broadcaster, fiction author, scientist and clinician.

He still works clinically, caring for patients in an Intensive Care Unit in North London. Here, he had a frontline role in caring for Covid patients. He is also on the Council of the UK Intensive Care Society, chaired the UK National Emergency Covid Critical care Committee, consulted for an international pharmaceutical company on novel vaccine development, and was the international co-ordinator for trials of a novel therapy.

In his research capacity, Hugh Montgomery has published nearly 600 scientific papers, several in Nature. He described the first ‘gene for human fitness’. His research has address cardiac growth, muscle wasting, bone and muscle response to exercise, and adaptation to low oxygen levels: he was research lead for the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition of 2007, and co-reported the first genes for evolutionary selection in response to high altitude. He has helped define the factors which influence survival in extreme environments, and also in intensive care: whether survivors are born, or made. He identified a genetic element which changes the chance of surviving critical illness by five-fold.

Hugh has an interest in Artificial Intelligence as applied to Health, and has worked with Google Deepmind and Google Health.

In innovation, Hugh holds patents for new metabolic therapies, (for cancer wasting and prevention of injury in stroke); a new technology for patient hydration; a novel mask for the removal of pollutants; and a new asthma inhaler. He chaired the board of Cambridge-based adaptive learning company Obrizum. He Chairs the board of a biotech startup, and consults in the pharma and biotech sectors.

Montgomery has a 24 year track record in the field of environment and health. He chaired the last two Lancet Commissions on Human Health and Climate Change, and has written and lectured extensively on the subject. He now co-chairs the 35-country, 52-institute international Lancet Countdown on Climate Change, which reports annually. He was appointed London Leader by London’s Sustainable Development Commission, attended many of the international ‘COP’ climate negotiations, and created the children’s climate education Project Genie.

He organised the Royal College of Physicians first meeting on Climate and Health, was a founder member of the UK Climate and Health Alliance, and helped create the International Alliance on the same subject. He organised the first International Meeting on Climate, Health and Security in 2009.

In media, Hugh has is a published author of award-winning children’s books (‘The Voyage of the Arctic Tern’ and ‘Cloudsailors’) and of best-selling thrillers (e.g. ‘Control’). He has hosted documentaries and appeared frequently across print and broadcast media. He delivered the five Royal Institution Christmas Lectures broadcast over Christmas 2007.

Hugh was previously a commercial and archaeological diver, who was part of the team which raised Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose (which sank in 1545). He was worked on a 2500 year old Etruscan wreck.

Hugh Montgomery is also an experienced ultramarathon runner and mountaineer (European Alps, Andes, and Himalayas). And he still holds the World Underwater Piano Playing Record!

In January 2022, Hugh was appointed Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) for services to intensive care medicine and climate change.

Muhannad Abdullah Kadi is the chief corporate communications and marketing officer at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.

Over the past year, he has utilized his experience and expertise to strengthen the KFSH&RC brand to rank 20th amongst the top global hospitals in 2023.

Kadi is a specialist in brand building with more than 15 years of experience, during which he developed and presented creative strategies to many international companies in various sectors, including healthcare, financial services, information technology, communications, fast-moving consumer goods trade, real estate, tourism, energy and education.

Prior to joining KFSH&RC, Kadi worked at Mobily for three years to become senior vice president of corporate brand and communication, where he was involved in increasing the brand’s financial value by 45 percent and leading it to become the 7th most valuable brand in Saudi Arabia.

Before joining Mobily, Kadi held several positions, starting his career at multinational advertising agencies Drive Dentsu and Grey Worldwide, with a proven track record of achievements and international awards in building brands and advertising campaigns, respectively.

He then joined stc as a group brands management director, where he continued to build his extensive experience in product marketing, blending digital and traditional channels and raising the market value of brands.

Kadi holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

Markus consults to multinational corporations, organizations and countries as strategic advisor and innovator in the fields of brand and reputation as well as in communications and  marketing. He  regularly conducts empirical brand and reputation studies on behalf of national and international companies and organizations.

He holds a PhD in Reputation Management from the University of Basel. He has been working for twelve years within major global corporations, e.g. as Head of Global Brand & Reputation Management at Novartis AG, Switzerland, and as Head of External Communication at Bayer AG, Germany. Furthermore, he is author of multiple publications – among them his book “Generating Trust via Corporate Reputation”.

Roger left STADA in October 2022 at the end of a four-year contract. STADA is a PE-sponsored European leader in Generics and Consumer Healthcare. Roger led the UK and USA businesses as a member of the Global Executive Board. During this period, the business grew sales by 50% and doubled EBITDA. He is now undertaking a number of selected advisory roles.

In late 2016, Roger left GSK to become an Independent Advisor, working with clients in Private Equity, Consulting, and Consumer Healthcare. He has specific expertise in business strategy, M&A, change leadership, and global marketing. This advisory work led to his role at STADA, which began in 2018 as an interim consulting project.

In early 2015, Roger was appointed to the Board of the new GSK joint venture with Novartis as Head of Global Categories, under the chairmanship of Sir Andrew Witty. At that time, GSK was the world’s largest Consumer Healthcare company, with sales of £7.2 billion.

Previously, in 2011, Roger was President of GSK Consumer Healthcare Europe, a role that was later expanded to include the Middle East and Africa, with combined sales of £2 billion. Alongside this, he led the Integration Team for the GSK/Novartis joint venture.

Earlier still, Roger served as President of GSK Consumer Healthcare North America, where he successfully returned the £1.5 billion business to growth following the impact of earlier launch phasing.

Before moving to the United States, Roger ran the GSK Consumer Healthcare UK business for four years, transforming flat sales into compound annual growth of 10%. He also served as President of the Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB), the UK’s OTC trade association. From 2001 to 2004, he was Managing Director of Consumer Healthcare in Australia and New Zealand.

Roger joined GSK in 1984 and held numerous senior marketing leadership roles in Consumer Healthcare, including Marketing Director, Nutritional Healthcare; Marketing Director, UK Healthcare and Toiletries; Vice President of Marketing, North America; and Global Vice President for Analgesics, Respiratory Tract, and Dermatology.

He has also served as elected President of AIM, representing all major branded CPG manufacturers in Europe, and of AESGP, the European OTC industry association. In the United States, he sat on the board of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.

Roger began his career as a graduate recruit at Procter & Gamble. He holds an MA in Law from St John’s College, Cambridge, where he was elected President of the student body (JCR).

Roger is based in London. His interests include outdoor pursuits—particularly skiing, mountaineering, and golf (9 handicap)—as well as the performing arts and cryptic crosswords.

Joy provides support & guidance to families around the world. Sam previously founded Heba, a digital care platform for families of children with developmental differences and health conditions. Heba was acquired by Joy in 2025.

San's career prior focused on improving healthcare systems. Through roles at Optum Ventures and The PSC, he has worked with two of the world’s most influential healthcare organisations - the NHS and UnitedHealth Group.

He has worked with many NHS organisations as a management consultant at the start of his career (providers and payors), and also as a venture investor at Optum Ventures, part of UnitedHealth Group (world’s largest healthcare organisation)

At Heba, Sam partnered with organisations such as Bupa, and received funding and support from the National Institute for Healthcare Research and Innovate UK.

David is the Chairman of Brand Finance Plc – the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. He has worked in the area of branded business, brand, and intangible asset valuation since 1991. He specialised entirely in the field after becoming the Director of Brand Valuation for Interbrand in 1995. He subsequently left Interbrand in 1996 to launch Brand Finance which is celebrating 25 years in business this year.

David represented the British Standards Institution in the working parties responsible for crafting international industry standards: ISO 10668 on Brand Valuation in 2010 and ISO 20671 on Brand Evaluation in 2019.

David is a passionate writer and has authored many articles on brand valuation, published in numerous marketing and finance newspapers and magazines, such as: Financial Times, Accountancy Age, and Marketing Week. He has also lectured on the topic of brand valuation for Harvard, Chicago, and London Business Schools.

David graduated from Bristol University with an English degree, qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse in London, and obtained a postgraduate diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). He is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and has a practising certificate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Hugo is experienced in Brand & Business Valuation, Business Strategy, Tax & transfer pricing, and valuation for M&A and Reputational Damage Litigation. Hugo also heads Brand Finance’s sports services team, working with rights-holders and corporate sponsors on brand & sponsorship strategy, and return on investment analysis.

Working for clients including Bayer, London Stock Exchange Group and Liverpool FC, Hugo leads client engagement, project design & management, and technical valuation work. Hugo is regularly featured in media reporting on the business of sport, including live interviews with BBC World News, TRT World and Phoenix, and print contributions including to Bloomberg News, The Economist, and London’s City A.M.

Hugo is a chartered accountant, ACA, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a MEng degree in Engineering, focusing on Biotechnology and Energy.

Paula is a senior leader operating at executive and board levels in the intersection between strategy, branding, and sustainable development with experience in Europe, South America, and Asia. She worked with leading organisations such as the British Council, Samsung, Renault and Arcadis, helping to understand and grow the value of their brands. She also worked on strategic and multi-stakeholder engagement programs for non-profits such as the Gates Foundation, Forum for the Future and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.