Retirement of Professor Pat Troop as Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency

4 April 2008

Professor Pat Troop retires this week after five years as Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency.  It is a post she has held since the Agency was formed from a wide range of health protection services which were brought together to form an integrated health protection agency.

Since 2003, Prof Troop has overseen the development of the Agency and steered its response to events ranging from SARS, the Buncefield fire, and the London bombings, to Avian Flu, the Polonium-210 poisoning incident, and flooding.

Prior to joining the Agency, Prof Troop was Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Department of Health (1999-2003), where she had particular responsibility for public health including health protection and international health. She led the health response to the events of September 11 and the subsequent threats, MMR and the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.

Previously her roles have included Director of Public Health in 1988, Chief Executive, of the Cambridge Health Authority in 1990 and In 1993 she became a Regional Director of Public Health for the East Anglian Regional Health Authority. 

Prof Troop CBE, FFPH, FRCP, DSc, is a Visiting Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Honorary Professor of City University.  In 2001, Professor Troop was awarded the CBE for services to public health and last year received the Outstanding Alumna Award from the University of Manchester.

Reviewing her time at the Health Protection Agency, Prof Troop said: “It has been a great privilege to be the first Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency working alongside such an exceptional group of staff. 

“Protecting the public health has been my lifelong passion and it has been hugely rewarding to help develop an expert, responsive Agency which has a critical role to play in protecting people from infectious diseases and from the health effects of environmental hazards.”

Sir William Stewart, Chairman of the Health Protection Agency said: “It has been a privilege to have worked together with Pat Troop over the past five years.  Her lifetime of experience in public health, coupled with her boundless energy and enthusiasm has greatly driven forward the establishment of the Agency.”

Her successor as the Agency’s Chief Executive is Justin McCracken, who takes up his post on Monday 7 April.

Notes to Editors

1.  For further information on Justin McCracken, see press release of 9 January 2008

2.  For further enquiries please contact the Health Protection Agency press office on 020 8327 7098/7097/6690/6055.

Last reviewed: 24 December 2008