30 minutes with Mark Chakravarty

What is your role?

I'm one of the new non-executive directors (NEDs) on the board for NICE. Essentially, NEDs contribute to the success of NICE by bringing independent oversight and constructive challenge to the executive team. As board members, we also share the same commitment to success. Each of us brings extensive experience from our diverse professional careers to provide counsel, advice and support. In my case, with over 2 decades of industry experience, I can give an informed perspective about the life-sciences industry.

I'm also the lead NED for NICE's appeals process. This means that I lead the initial scrutiny of appeal applications to determine if the grounds for appeal have been met. I also determine the points that the appeal panel will hear. I work with our corporate office team to make sure that we have enough appeal panel members and recruit new ones as needed.

Mark Chakravarty, non-executive director

How long have you been at NICE?

While I was only appointed to this role in April of this year, I've been involved with NICE for nearly 2 decades! My first involvement was leading the submission from the industry side for the first multiple technology appraisal (MTA) for osteoporosis treatments. I then served 2 terms as the industry representative on a technology appraisal committee (TAC) and another 8 years as a member of NICE's appeal panel.

Mark Chakravarty, non-executive director

What other roles do you have?

I'm now in my third career. I started out in the NHS. First, as a practicing doctor working in medicine, surgery and accident and emergency. Then, working with the NHS executive and postgraduate deanery in the north west.

My second career was in the industry with a focus on healthcare, but not just prescription medicines. My core focus, for more than 20 years, was building support across diverse stakeholders for shared goals. Communication was at the heart of this and so my later role was as a chief communications officer.

I've now embarked on my third career. Some call this a 'portfolio' career but I personally like 'mosaic' career. Finally, in addition to being a NED, I'm an investor and adviser to an artificial intelligence (AI) powered communication intelligence platform called Quantified Communication and a consulting executive.

What would be your career defining moment?

Often, the most defining move is the first move. For me, that was making a pretty big decision to move away from delivering direct patient care as a doctor to pursue a career where my impact could be equally profound but less direct.

It was a real push-pull moment for me. On the push side, I realised that while I loved what I was doing, my initial career path of surgery was too deep and narrow to motivate me throughout a 30+ year career. On the pull side, I was drawn to how healthcare was organised at a system level and found this even more interesting than delivering direct patient care.

It also highlights that life defining moments happen when you realise something about who you are and what motivates you as an individual.

What makes you proud to work at NICE?

Being healthy is the most important determinant of our wellbeing and central to human happiness. This is why societies aspire to offer universal and equitable health and social care to their populations. The NHS is an amazing example of a society coming together and pooling resources to be able to provide this.

Since it's inception 73 years ago, a critical question has been what should be covered by this pooled, but ultimately limited, public fund and what should not. This is not an easy or academic question. It's a hard question that no individual alone is qualified to answer. It's a question where the answer has real impact on real people.

NICE is central to independently determining what is in the public's best interest to cover. For over 20 years, we've fulfilled this critical role, continually breaking new ground. Learning from our successes and failures to do this important job as best as we possibly can. I'm proud to be part of an organisation dedicated to and passionate about such an important purpose.

What challenges do you think NICE will face in the next 12 months?

One word - technology.

Advancements in technology are at the heart of healthcare improvement and the main driver of pressure on budgets. This is both biomedical innovation, like gene therapies, and technological innovation, like telemedicine and AI.

To stay relevant, an organisation needs to evolve and adapt faster than the external pace of change. This is our challenge, not just for the next 12 months, but the next 5 years.

What have been your greatest achievements professionally and personally?

Personal is easy - my 2 kind, caring and curious children, Kate and Leo. And, my amazing, talented wife, Sarah.

Mark with his wife, Sarah, son, Leo (now 19) and daughter, Kate (now 15)

Ultimately, we all want to spend our time on earth happy and fulfilled. You do not achieve this by focusing on money or career, but by focusing on family and relationships.

Sarah, Leo and Kate, in their kindness, passion and purpose remind me every day of what really matters in life. I've always tried to invest in the relationships that matter. I firmly believe that taking time away from work for family and friends has a huge positive impact, not just on your wellbeing, but also on your career and happiness.

Mark with his wife, Sarah, son, Leo and daughter, Kate

Mark with his wife, Sarah, son, Leo (now 19) and daughter, Kate (now 15)

#LikeAGirl marketing campaign poster featuring 3 teenage girls playing golf, throwing a ball and standing proudly. Tagline reads 'what does it mean to do something #LikeAGirl?'

Mark's team played a key role in the creation of the Always #LikeAGirl campaign which aims to build confidence in teenage girls

And professionally?

Professionally, it's a hard one to pick. I'm very proud of the 'Like-a-Girl' campaign to support teen girl confidence. The #LikeAGirl mission started with a profound insight - that more than half of girls experience a drop in confidence during puberty, 2 times more than boys, and many never fully regain this. That's why Always took a first step in 2014, releasing the Always #LikeAGirl campaign, to show how harmful words can be in adding to the drop in confidence.

My team played a key role in the creation of the #LikeAGirl film, which had over 85 million views in 150 countries. Hundreds of thousands of girls have taken part in the movement. They've helped to change the meaning of 'like a girl' to mean amazing things, simply by sharing what they proudly do #LikeAGirl.

Mark's team played a key role in the creation of the Always #LikeAGirl campaign which aims to build confidence in teenage girls

Mark's father, Deepak and step-mum, Jenny

What keeps you up at night?

I'm glad to say that I get a good night's sleep most nights. In terms of concerns, the big ones are growing inequality between the 1 percent and everyone else. And, the generational climate and environmental debt we're passing to the next generation.

Who has been your biggest influence?

I've been blessed to have worked with many exceptional and talented people. Each of whom has left an indelible impression on me.

Perhaps the most influential has been my father, who inspires an infectious curiosity about the world, a passion for learning and deep-rooted generosity.

Mark's father, Deepak and step-mum, Jenny

What single word would people use to describe you?

Ideas.

What was the last film you watched?

Nomadland.

Describe your perfect holiday destination

Thailand, with a visit to Bangkok for the city buzz and then Koh Samui for the beach. We lived in Singapore for 5 years and got to explore Asia which was amazing.

The last time you got on a plane, where were you going?

Corsica, in France. For a break from Zoom calls as there was no Wi-Fi.

What do you do in your spare time?

I love audiobooks (they seem to have replaced reading). I'm passionate about food, eating out and cooking. And lockdown cocktails were an enjoyable extension of that!

Mark and his family enjoying a meal at Bodega 1900, the restaurant of Albert Adrià, of El Bulli fame

Mark and his family eating a meal in a restaurant

Mark and his family enjoying a meal at Bodega 1900, the restaurant of Albert Adrià, of El Bulli fame

2 sea otters in an outdoor enclosure pool

Sea otters in the Montery aquarium

Name one thing about you that few people know.

I have a deep passion for sea otters. What can I say? I first saw a sea otter swimming off the coast in California when I was a teenager and I've loved them ever since.

Sea otters in the Montery aquarium

Sea otters are the most amazing animal. Their fur is the densest of any animal on earth. In just 1 square inch, they have 10 times the number of hairs that a human has on their entire head!

Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools, mainly rocks that they keep in built-in pockets under their arms. They're also considered a keystone species because of their critical importance to the health and stability of the nearshore marine ecosystem.