Professor Robin May
Biography
As Chief Scientific Officer, Robin is responsible for UKHSA’s 2,000 science professionals and for all of the science outputs they produce: from measuring radiation levels on the space station to developing diagnostic tests for emerging infections.
Robin is seconded to UKHSA from the University of Birmingham, where he is Professor of Infectious Diseases. His academic research focuses on investigating host-pathogen interactions, particularly in patients with underlying immune defects. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017 until 2020 and then, from 2020 to 2025, served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency.
Robin has a long-standing interest in science communication and in 2022 he was appointed as the 39th Gresham Professor of Physic – a role in which he provides free science lectures to the public. He is also a Fellow of both the American Academy of Microbiology and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Previous roles in government
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Food Standards Agency Chief Scientific Adviser