Three directors join UK’s MHRA

The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has named three new non-executive directors.

Dame Valerie Beral, Prof Sir Alexander Markham and Prof David Webb will all join the board of the MHRA, which regulates the safety of medicines and medical devices in the UK.

Dame Valerie (pictured right) is director of the cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford, where her research has included reproductive, hormonal and infectious agents in cancer.

She also helped lead the Million Women Study, which helped demonstrate that hormone replacement therapy increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.

Prof Markham is professor of medicine at the University of Leeds and a former CEO of the charity Cancer Research UK.

He is also director of the molecular medicine unit at St James's University Hospital and chairman of the NHS Connecting for Health Research Capability Programme, in addition to serving on a number of panels of the Medical Research Council.

Prof Webb (pictured left) is Christison professor of therapeutics and clinical pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh.

His research has focused on internal medicine, hypertension and cardiovascular risk management, and he established Edinburgh University's Wellcome Trust cardiovascular research initiative and centre for cardiovascular science.

In addition to his academic role, he is the current leader of the Scottish Translational Medicine and Therapeutics Initiative (STMTI), established by the Wellcome Trust.

“I'm delighted that Dame Valerie, Sir Alex and Professor Webb have accepted appointments as non-executive directors of the MHRA,” said Sir Gordon Duff, chair of the MHRA.

“They will bring highly relevant experience and expertise to our board at a time of significant development of the Agency, and will contribute importantly to our strategic leadership.