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Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE)

COMARE advises on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation, both ionising and non-ionising.

Role of the group

COMARE is a Department of Health expert committee, but it provides independent advice to all government departments and agencies.

At its meetings, the committee has representatives from:

  • Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy

  • Department for Communities and Local Government

  • Department of Health

  • Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Northern Ireland)

  • Environment Agency

  • Food Standards Agency

  • Food Standards Scotland

  • Health and Safety Executive

  • Information Services Division, NHS National Services Scotland

  • Medical Research Council

  • Ministry of Defence

  • Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

  • Office of National Statistics

  • Public Health England

  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency

  • Scottish Government

  • Welsh Government

Terms of reference

To assess and advise government and the devolved administrations on the health effects of natural and man-made radiation and to assess the adequacy of the available data and the need for further research.

Work programme 2017-2018 (PDF, 18KB, 1 page)

Publications

COMARE Annual Report: 2016 (PDF, 129KB, 2 pages)

COMARE Reports

COMARE - files for early reports, statements and other documents

Past documents, including statements and history of the committee, are also held on the committee pages on the National Archives website.

Minutes

22 November 2016: Minutes 115th meeting (PDF, 61.2KB, 6 pages)

20 July 2016: Minutes 114th meeting (PDF, 57.3KB, 5 pages)

15 March 2016: Minutes 113th meeting (PDF, 61.8KB, 6 pages)

24 November 2015: Minutes 112th meeting (PDF, 49KB, 6 pages)

COMARE meeting minutes

Archived minutes may also be found on the National Archives website.

Membership

COMARE chooses members for their medical and scientific expertise and has never had members from the nuclear or electrical power supply industries. Current members are:

  • Dr Chris Gibson (Chair) (National School of Healthcare Science)

  • Dr Jane Barrett

  • Dr Paul Darragh (Public Health Agency for Northern Ireland)

  • Dr Frank de Vocht (University of Bristol)

  • Professor John Harrison (Oxford Brookes University)

  • Professor Brenda Howard (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, NERC)

  • Professor Ray Kemp (Lay member)

  • Dr Colin Martin (University of Glasgow)

  • Professor Stephanie McKeown (University of Ulster)

  • Dr Tom Nunan (retired)

  • Professor Paul Pharoah (University of Cambridge)

  • Professor Kevin Prise (Queen’s University Belfast)

  • Dr Peter Riley (Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham)

  • Dr David Sutton (NHS Tayside)

  • Professor Roger Taylor (Swansea University)

  • Dr Mireille Toledano (Imperial College, London)

  • Professor Richard Wakeford (The University of Manchester)

  • Ms Helen Warner (Lay member)

  • Professor Peter Warwick (Loughborough University)

Subcommittee, working group and secretariat membership (PDF, 19.1KB, 2 pages)

Declaration of members' interests (PDF, 93.5KB, 5 pages)

Code of practice

COMARE adheres to the guidelines laid down in the code of practice for scientific advisory committees (Government Office for Science, 2011) as is appropriate and in agreement with the Department of Health.

COMARE Code of Conduct (PDF, 47.9KB, 2 pages)

Contact

Email: comare@phe.gov.uk

COMARE Secretariat
c/o Public Health England
Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards
Chilton
Oxon OX11 0RQ