Michael Jacobs joined Keble as its Warden in October 2022. In this role he chairs the College’s Governing Body and oversees both Keble’s current activities and its plans for future development.
He is an Infectious Diseases specialist and was the Clinical Director of Infection at the Royal Free Hospital, helping to establish an internationally recognised centre of excellence. Two major events have marked his career. In 2013-6, an unprecedented outbreak of Ebola affected Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. He worked at the centre of the UK response to the West Africa Ebola outbreak and led the clinical team that treated Ebola patients in the UK. In early 2020, the same team treated some of the first COVID-19 patients in the UK and it continues to respond to the evolving pandemic.
He has participated in and chaired numerous national and international advisory and guideline committees on dangerous viral infections and served as NHS England Programme Director for High Consequence Infectious Diseases. In 2016, he was knighted for services to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.