Defra Science Advisory Council
SAC MEMBER BIOGRAPHIES
Professor Christopher Gaskell (Interim-Chair)
Principal of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Professor Gaskell was previously Professor of Small Animal Studies (1982 – 2007) and Pro-Vice Chancellor (2002 – 2007), at the University of Liverpool. Professor Gaskell was also Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Liverpool from 1991 to 1994, and Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Science from 1995 to 2001. He was Chairman of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency Science Audit in 2001-2002, was a member of the Veterinary Laboratories Agency Ownership Board (2006 – 2007), and Defra's Science Advisory Group.
He is a member of the VLA Owner’s Advisory Board, the Council of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British Veterinary Association, the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and the Association of Veterinary Teachers and Research Workers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.
His research interest is predominantly the medicine of small animals, especially feline medicine and small animal infectious diseases.
Hilary Burrage is an Independent Consultant in Strategic Policy.
She is a Non-Executive Director of the British Urban Regeneration Association, Vice-Chair of the NW Regional Sustainability Group and a Member of the Council of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce.
Previously Hilary was a Non-Executive Director of the Mersey Regional Ambulance NHS Trust (MRAS) and a Lay Partner and Visitor of the Health Professions Council, having before that worked in Further and Higher Education. She is honorary Communications Adviser / Agent to Mrs. Louise Ellman MP.
Hilary’s primary interest lies in the interface of different aspects of, and synergies between, science, evidence, the knowledge economy and policy development. She has a Master’s Degree in the Sociology of Science and Technology.
She lives in Liverpool and has considerable experience of education and the
health industry, having worked as a Researcher in Social Medicine at the
University of Liverpool and as Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care at
Wirral College. She has particular expertise in personnel and resource
management.
Hilary has a wide range of interests incorporating experience in many fields including social policy and culture, the arts, community development, and the sociology and history of science. She is founder-chair of an arts and regeneration charity and also holds many other honorary positions in these areas.
Professor Sheila Crispin MA, VetMB, BSc, PhD, DVA, DVOphthal, DipECVO, FRCVS
Sheila Crispin is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and former College President (2006 – 2007). She is currently senior vice-President. Professor Crispin is also co-chair of the current Defra Laboratory Science Agencies audit. She retired from a full time academic post as Professor of Comparative Ophthalmology at the University of Bristol in 2004, where she is now a Visiting Professorial Fellow in the University's Department of Anatomy.
Sheila has a background in pure and applied science. After obtaining an honours degree in zoology and applied zoology from the University of Wales ( Bangor ) she was awarded an Agricultural Research Council Veterinary Training Grant to read veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge , where she was a Graduate Scholar. After qualifying with distinction, she spent a short period in mixed, predominantly large animal practice in Cumbria followed by numerous locums with the Highlands and Islands Veterinary Service, she returned to academia, initially at Cambridge where she was a Bye-Fellow of Girton College and, subsequently, at the Universities of Edinburgh and Bristol. Sheila obtained a PhD for research on canine lipid keratopathy by part time study whilst working as a full time member of staff at Edinburgh and has an international reputation in the fields of comparative ophthalmology and disorders of lipoproteins. She has specialist qualifications in veterinary anesthesia and ophthalmology. Her scientific expertise, however, extends beyond these areas and encompasses other aspects of comparative medicine, as well as educational, ethical, environmental and agricultural issues. She has published widely in scientific journals as well as editing, authoring and co-authoring several textbooks in the field of veterinary ophthalmology.
Sheila lives on a small farm, operating as a mixed beef cattle and sheep enterprise, in an environmentally sensitive area of outstanding natural beauty within the Lake District National Park.
Professor Roland Clift CBE, MA, PhD, FREng, FIChemE, HonFCIWEM, FRSA
Distinguished Professor of Environmental Technology and founding Director of the Centre for Environmental Strategy at the University of Surrey; previously Head of the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Surrey. Professor Clift is Visiting Professor in Environmental System Analysis at Chalmers University , Göteborg , Sweden For 9 years he was a member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. In 2004-5, he acted as Expert Adviser to a House of Lords enquiry into energy efficiency. He is a non-executive Director of the Merrill Lynch New Energy Technologies investment trust, a member of the Rolls-Royce Environmental Advisory Board and of the International Expert Group on application of Life Cycle Assessment to waste management. He is a past member of the UK Eco-labelling Board and of the Royal Society/Royal Academy Working Group set up at the instigation of a UK Government Department (DTI) that focused on the risk and regulatory issues raised by nanotechnology. He is President-elect of the International Society for Industrial Ecology. His research is concerned with system approaches to environmental management and industrial ecology, including life cycle assessment and energy systems.
Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine and Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Imperial College London and Director of the UK Small Area Health Statistics Unit. He is a member of the Medical Research Council Physiological Systems and Clinical Sciences Board, the Health Protection Agency's Subcommittee on Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, the Wellcome Trust's Populations and Public Health Strategy Committee, the Mobile Telecommunications Health Research (MTHR) Programme Committee and the UK Biobank Steering Committee. He was elected fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2000.
Having trained in clinical medicine, Professor Elliott worked as a medical epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where he was head of the Environmental Epidemiology Unit from 1990 to 1995, and head of the WHO Collaborating Centre in environmental epidemiology. In 1995, he moved to Imperial College London. He leads a large programme of research reflecting his major interests in environmental and nutritional epidemiology, cardiovascular epidemiology, and small-area health statistics. From 2000 to 2001, he was a specialist adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Sub-Committee on Human Genetic Databases and from 2004 to 2005 he was a member of the Royal Society Working Group on Pharmacogenetics.
Professor Neil Ferguson OBE FMedSci
Professor Ferguson holds the Chair in Mathematical Biology at the Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London. Prior to his appointment at Imperial, he held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford. He sits on the Home Office Steering Committee for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Modelling and the Department of Health Scientific Advisory Group on Pandemic Influenza.
Professor Ferguson uses mathematical and statistical models to investigate the processes shaping infectious disease pathogenesis, evolution and transmission. A key practical focus is advising on disease control policies in public health, clinical and veterinary contexts. As well as theoretical work on evolutionary and epidemiological dynamics, he also applies his work to a range of pathogens, including influenza, SARS, BSE/vCJD, HIV, foot-and-mouth disease and smallpox. While retaining an ongoing research interest in understanding pathogen diversity, he more recently has focussed on applying models as contingency planning tools for emerging infections (pandemic and avian influenza in particular) and bioterrorism.
Professor Ferguson's contribution to the field of infectious diseases epidemiology and outbreak control has been recognised with the award of an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2001 and being elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2005.
Professor Peter Guthrie OBE MSc, LLD, FICE
Peter Guthrie is Professor in Engineering for Sustainable Development, having held this post at the University of Cambridge since 2000.
Before this, he was the Director of the consultants Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, where he was responsible for the establishment of their Training Division, the management of the firm's design of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the setting up of the Environmental Division, and its growth over ten years to some 150 professional staff.
A civil engineer with geotechnical specialisation by background, Professor Guthrie has worked in diverse environments including countries such as Nigeria, Lesotho, Sudan, Philippines, Ethiopia, and Botswana, and on major infrastructure projects such as Channel Tunnel Rail Link, CrossRail, West Coast Mainline Route Modernisation and Birmingham, and Manchester Airports, and major building projects such as Eden Project Phase 4, and large scale schemes for the Prison Service and the Ministry of Defence. He has advised on policy matters related to waste and environment in Russia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Romania and Portugal.
He was involved in the founding of RedR, a charity that provides engineers and other personnel to relief agencies in disasters and is Vice President of the Organisation.
Professor Philip Lowe is Director of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) Programme of the UK Research Councils. He has been a leading figure in the development of interdisciplinary rural studies in the UK . In 1992, he founded the Centre for Rural Economy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne , where he holds the Duke of Northumberland Chair of Rural Economy. He has played an active role in rural policy development at the national and European levels and in the North of England. For his contribution to the rural economy he was awarded the OBE in 2003.
Professor Lowe is a specialist in the rural economy. His research interests include the sociology of rural development, environmental policy analysis and land use planning. He is currently Chair of the Defra Vets & Veterinary Services Working Group.
Professor McLean is Professor of Mathematical Biology and Director of the Institute of Emergent Infections of Humans in the James Martin 21st Century School, at the University of Oxford. Her research interests lie in the use of mathematical models to aid understanding of the evolution and spread of infectious agents. This encompasses modelling of the dynamics of infections and immune responses within individual hosts as well as models of the spread of infections from one host to another.
Professor McLean has been a member of the National Expert Panel for New and Emerging Infections since 2003, a member of the Nuffield Foundation 21st Century Science Advisory Committee, from 2003 - 2005, the Royal Society Inquiry into Infectious Diseases of Livestock, from 2001 - 2002, and the Royal Society Inquiry into the current status of TSE research in 2000.
Originally from California , Professor Meagher is currently Professor and Chair of Plant Biology at the University of St Andrews . He is currently a member of NERC's Environmental Genomics Steering Committee. He has been on editorial boards for various journals including the American Naturalist, Ecology Letters, Evolution, Heredity, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and Molecular Ecology. He has recently been appointed Outlook Editor for Evolution, charged with development of a feature / edition on focusing on science and society.
His main area of science is plant biology, specialising in population genetics and the societal relevance of evolutionary biology. He is a member of the St Andrews University Senate, and the has served on the strategic Planning Working group on research and the Senate Research Committee. He is presently Director of the university Centre for Evolution, Genes and Genomics. . In 1998 he was Co-Chair for a US National Science Foundation Population Biology task force, and from 1996-2000 he was Co-Chair of a US-based national working group on Evolution, Science & Society. Thomas has served on review Panels for the US National Science Foundation, the Academy of Finland , and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.
Plant evolutionary biology, genealogical reconstruction and analysis (likelihood-based paternity and parentage analysis), quantitative genetics, sexual dimorphism, linkages between molecular variation and phenotypic evolution, ecological and genetic bases for population differentiation and speciation, conservation biology and biodiversity, risk assessment of gene flow and its consequences in genetically modified organisms, public understanding of science.
Professor John Shepherd MA PhD CMath FIMA FRS is a Professorial Research Fellow in Earth System Science in the School of Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, UK. He is a physicist by training, and has worked on the transport of pollutants in the atmospheric boundary layer, the dispersion of tracers in the deep ocean, the assessment & control of radioactive waste disposal in the sea, on the assessment and management of marine fish stocks, and most recently on Earth System Modelling and climate change. His current research interests include the natural variability of the climate system on long time-scales, and the development of intermediate complexity models of the Earth climate system for the interpretation of the palaeo-climate record. He graduated (first degree in 1967 and PhD in 1971) from the University of Cambridge. From 1989-1994 he was Deputy Director of the MAFF Fisheries Laboratory at Lowestoft, and the principal scientific adviser to the UK government on fisheries management. From 1994-1999 he was the first Director of the Southampton Oceanography Centre. He has extensive experience of international scientific assessments and advice in the controversial areas of fisheries management and radioactive waste disposal, and has recently taken a particular interest in the interaction between science, economics, and public policy. He is Deputy Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1999.
Professor Sir John Skehel, FRS
Sir John Skehel was Director of the Medical Research Council National Institue for Medical Research (NIMR) from 1987 to 2006. He is a member of Cancer Research UK , sits on the executive committee of the Animal Health Trust, is Trustee of the Novartis Foundation and is a member of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control.
John Skehel gained his PhD from the University of Manchester in 1966, and moved to NIMR in 1969. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1984 and was Knighted in June 1996. He was awarded the Royal Society's Royal Medal in July 2003. He is Vice-President of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professor Andy Stirling is Science Director at SPRU (science and technology policy research), and co-directs the ESRC STEPS Centre at Sussex University . He has a background in the natural sciences, a Master's in archaeology and social anthropology ( Edinburgh ) and a D.Phil in science and technology policy ( Sussex ). Formerly a Director of Greenpeace International, his work at SPRU has since involved collaboration with a range of government, industry and public interest organisations. His research interests centre on technological risk, innovation policy, scientific uncertainty and public engagement in a number of sectors, including energy systems, chemicals, nuclear waste, medical technologies and GM crops. To these ends, he has been involved in developing participatory appraisal methods, as well as general frameworks for implementing the Precautionary Principle and analyzing diversity and flexibility in technology and research portfolios. He has served on a number of policy advisory committees, including the UK Government's Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances and GM Science Review Panel and the European Commission's Expert Group on Science and Governance.
Professor Waage is currently the Director of the International Development Centre (Bloomsbury Colleges), and Visiting Professor at Imperial College London. He was formerly a member of the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, which he established and directed until late 2006. He has also been head of Imperial’s Department of Agricultural Sciences and Department of Environmental Science and Technology. Professor Waage was previously with CAB International (former Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux) from 1986-2001 as Director, International Institute of Biological Control, and later Chief Executive, CABI Bioscience. He co-founded and chaired the Global Invasive Species Programme, was thematic focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), also developed the Global IPM Facility with the World Bank and FAO. His main area of expertise is ecology of insect parasite-host systems, pest management, sustainable agriculture and invasive species issues. Professor Waage Chairs the BBSRC Sustainable Agriculture Panel, and serves on the Strategic Advisory Committee of the BBSRC/ESRC/NERC Rural Economy and Land Use programme (RELU). Recently, he helped to coordinate the OSI Foresight Project on Detection and Identification of Infectious Diseases. Professor Waage has served on US government committees on crop protection and alien species. He was awarded the OBE in 2007 for services to science.
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last modified: 29 January 2008
Page published: 29 January 2008