Who’s who in the secret scientific group advising the UK government? The | World News



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On Friday, The Guardian revealed the 23 attendees of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). They comprise 21 scientists and two political advisers from Downing Street.

Sir Patrick Vallance boss scientific official

Sir Patrick Vallance



Photograph: Hannah McKay / Reuters

The chief government science adviser and former president of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline. In the run-up to the EU referendum, he warned that a Brexit vote would spell uncertainty for future drug development.

Prof Chris Whitty, England boss doctor official

Professor Chris Whitty



Photograph: James Veysey / Rex / Shutterstock

A physician and epidemiologist with a huge reputation among his colleagues, he has devoted much of his career to researching malaria in Africa. Previously chief scientific adviser to the Department of International Development and the Department of Health.

Prof. Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy boss doctor official

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam



Photography: Yui Mok / PA

An expert on influenza and respiratory viruses, Van-Tam is a professor of health protection at the University of Nottingham School of Medicine and sat in Sage during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England

Professor Stephen Powis



Photograph: Niklas Halle’n / AFP via Getty Images

Professor of kidney medicine at University College London, he was the leading voice calling for former health workers to return to the NHS to help deal with the pandemic.

Prof Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service of Public Health England (PHE)

Professor Sharon Peacock



Photography: David Bishop / UCL

The professor of public health and microbiology in the department of medicine at the University of Cambridge told parliamentarians of the science and technology committee in March that antibody test kits would be available for mass testing in a matter of days, but the tests failed in quality controls.

Maria Zambon, Director of Reference Microbiology Services at PHE and Director of the National Influenza Center of the World Health Organization in the United Kingdom.

Zambon is known as a meticulous and extremely competent scientist. She is medically qualified and specializes in RNA viruses, antivirals, and vaccines.

Meera Chand, consulting microbiologist at PHE

Chand worked on the UK response to the Ebola epidemic and has experience in infectious diseases such as influenza, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and ape pox.

Prof Charlotte Watts, boss scientific advisego to the Department of International Development

Watts is attached to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she is a professor of social and mathematical epidemiology.

Prof John Aston, Home Office boss scientific adviseer

A specialist in applied statistics, Aston joined the government in 2017 after resigning as administrator of the Alan Turing Institute.

Angela McLean, Professor of Mathematical Biology at Oxford University Department of zoology

Angela McLean



Photograph: Pippa Fowles / 10 Downing Street / AFP via Getty Images

McLean is the government’s deputy chief scientific adviser and chief scientist to the Ministry of Defense. He often speaks at press conferences No. 10 and has said that the number of hospital admissions “is not as bad as it could have been” if the closure had not been established.

Ian Diamond, Head of the Government Statistical Service and Executive Director of the UK Statistical Authority

The nation’s statistician Diamond sparked an investigation into a payment of £ 282,000 when he resigned as director of the University of Aberdeen.

Graham Medley, professor of infectious disease modeling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Medley was one of the first scientists to come up with the team immunity strategy. He told Newsnight that he would like “to make all of the most vulnerable people in the north of Scotland … everyone else in Kent and have a great and pleasant epidemic in Kent, so that everyone becomes immune.”

Neil Ferguson, professor at Imperial College London faculty of medicine

Neil Ferguson



Photography: MarshaJ

Head of the Imperial College modeling team, whose work predicted half a million deaths in Britain and is credited with inciting the government to impose the blockade.

Prof John Edmunds, specialist in infectious disease control program design at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

A leader in disease modeling and analysis, Edmunds warned that the blockade of Italy could prove unsustainable and has argued against banning exercise outdoors because it has negligible impact on the spread of the disease but benefits for mental health and welfare.

James Rubin, Emerging Health Risk Psychology Reader, Kings College London

Rubin has studied how people respond to all kinds of perceived health risks, from nuclear crises and the Ebola outbreak to cell phone signals and Novichok nerve agents.

Brooke Rogers, professor of behavioral science and Security at Kings College London and Chairman of the Cabinet Office of the National Risk Assessment Behavioral Science Advisory Group

Rogers specializes in hazard and risk communication, and is a strong advocate of basing interventions on evidence.

Peter Horby, former professor of infectious diseases and global health at the University of Oxford and Chairman of the new and emerging government Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (Nervtag)

Horby conducted Ebola trials in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and is now spearheading the main coronavirus drug recovery trial.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust

Jeremy Farrar



Photograph: James Drew Turner / The Guardian

One of the few Sage members who has made their membership public. Farrar is a medical researcher and former head of the Oxford clinical research unit in Ho Chi Minh City. He said Britain is on track to be among the worst, if not the worst, affected country in Europe.

Andrew Rambaut, member of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh School of Biological Sciences

A leading geneticist who specializes in the evolution of emerging human viruses. Their recent work showed that the coronavirus may have spread to humans through pangolins, but “clearly” was not created in the laboratory or purposely manipulated.

Emma reed Director of emergency answer and Health protection in the Department of Health and Social Assistance

Reed worked on the government’s response to Ebola and has coordinated programs to reduce childhood obesity and diabetes.

Dr. Edward Mullins, clinical advicewas the boss doctor official

Mullins is a clinical professor at Imperial College and a Registrar of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital and Chelsea, London. He previously worked with Dame Sally Davies, a former chief physician in England.

Dominic Cummings, boss advisor to the principal Minister

Dominic Cummings



Photography: Mark Thomas / Rex / Shutterstock

The former director of the Vote Leave campaign, who became famous for advertising “rare and misfits with strange abilities” to advise the government.

Ben Warner, Downing Street advisor on data science

Ben warner

Photograph of Ben Warner: N & A Unwin / Spiderwoodimages

Campaign data specialist Vote Leave joined No. 10 after running the private election model that predicted the crushing 2019 victory for the Tories.

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