Members of the Science Council

Science Council member biographies and registers of interest. The Science Council comprises an independent Chair, and seven independent members.

The members of the Science Council are:

Professor Sandy Thomas (Chair)

Professor Thomas is Director of the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, and an Emeritus Professor at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex.

Professor John O’Brien (Vice Chair)

Professor J O’Brien is Founder of the Food Observatory, UK and a Visiting Professor at Ulster University, Coleraine. In his previous career to 2018 he led the Nestlé global competence centre for Food Safety & Quality and the company’s Food Safety and Integrity Research Programme in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is also a former head of food safety for the Danone Group in Paris.

Dr Paul Turner

Dr Turner is a Reader / Clinician Scientist and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Allergy & Immunology at Imperial College London, and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. His research, funded by the Medical Research Council, European Commission, NIHR and UK Food Standards Agency among others, focusses on the pathophysiology of severe allergic reactions to food. He is a member of the FAO/WHO Codex Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens and leads the EAACI Taskforce on Food Allergen Thresholds.

Paul leads the food allergy desensitisation programme at St Mary's Hospital, London. He is a consultant to the UK Health Security Agency, Chairperson of the WAO Anaphylaxis Committee and emeritus chair of the BSACI Paediatric Allergy Committee.

Professor Patrick J. Wolfe

Professor Wolfe​ holds chairs in statistics and computer science at University College London, where he specialises in the mathematical foundations of data science.

Claire Nicholson

Claire Nicholson is the Science Council member representing the consumer interest and has held a range of roles representing consumer interests including having been an Independent Director to represent Consumer Interests on the Board of Red Tractor

Professor Jonathan Wastling

Professor Wastling is Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Natural Sciences at Keele University. He is a Professor of Infection Biology specialising in human and animal infectious diseases with a long-standing interest in food security

Professor Peter Gregory

Professor Gregory is Emeritus Professor of Global Food Security at the University of Reading having previously been Professor of Soil Science at the same university. He is chair of the Recommended List Board for the AHDB and the board of Crops For the Future UK CIC

Professor Michael Tildesley

Michael Tildesley is a Professor in the Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology and Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research at the University of Warwick. His research focuses upon the development of models of infectious diseases and their utility as predictive tools.

Professor Simon Pearson

Simon Pearson is Professor of Agri-Food Technology and Founding Director of the Lincoln Institute of Agri-Food Technology at the University of Lincoln. He specialises in interdisciplinary research that spans the agri-food system, including agri-food robotics, use of digital systems in food manufacturing, the application of AI across the food chain and data governance in complex systems.

Peter Borriello

Peter Borriello has had a long career in research and has led human and veterinary national institutions. These have included the Public Health Laboratory Service Central Public Health Laboratory, the Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, and most recently Chief Executive of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.