In September 2000, Sir Alan took up the post Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee following the retirement of Ian James Graham-Bryce. During this time, Sir Alan was also appointed Chairman of UK Biobank, a joint venture set up by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council to oversee one of the world’s largest genetic epidemiology studies, and a Non-Executive Director of the Office for the Strategic Coordination of Health Research and the UK Statistics Authority. He is a Trustee of The Nuffield Trust and Chairman-designate of the Health Foundation.