Professor Robin May appointed Chief Scientific Advisor of the Food Standards Agency

We are very pleased to report that Lister Fellow Professor Robin May has been named Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

His role will begin in July and will involve providing expert advice and oversight of FSA activities to help ensure that public health is protected through evidence, scientific data and a rigorous approach to the application of research results to legislation and public safety.

About Professor Robin May

Professor May is Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and previous Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection.

His research involves improving our understanding of human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on the molecular basis of host-pathogen interactions.

About the Food Standards Agency

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is an independent Government department that protects public health and consumer interests across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The FSA ensures that the best available scientific data and information is used to tackle both existing and emerging risks relating to food safety.

Professor May will now play a vital role in this work, as he explains in this quote taken from the FSA news release about the appointment:

I am deeply honoured to have been selected as the next Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency. Safe, trustworthy food is central to our lives, and I strongly believe that decisions around food policy need to be informed by the best and most robust scientific data available. I am very much looking forward to working closely with colleagues both within FSA and across government, the research community and the food industry, to play my part in providing transparent, reliable scientific advice to help ensure the safety and integrity of food for all of us.

We were very pleased to hear of Professor May’s appointment and we are delighted to see Lister-funded researchers take aspects of their work and expertise outside of academia to produce impact in other fields, while also continuing to progress their important research.

If you would like to find out more about the sort of support that the Lister Institute can offer to biomedical scientists in the UK and Republic of Ireland, please view this article on our 2021 research prizes.