Director of Public Health Strategy Appointed at the Health Protection Agency

4 December 2008

The Health Protection Agency today announced the appointment of Professor Anthony Kessel as its Director of Public Health Strategy. This is a newly created post to ensure the continued development of the Agency's strategy for supporting health protection planning and delivery in the UK and internationally.

Prof Kessel is currently both Director of Public Health for Camden Primary Care Trust and Honorary Professor and Director of the International Programme for Ethics, Public Health and Human Rights (IPEPH) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He also has a background in general practice.

As Director of Public Health at Camden PCT and an Executive Director member of the Board, Prof Kessel's particular interests are in improving health and reducing health inequalities, environmental health and health protection, and in developing research links between academic and service public health in the UK.

At the LSHTM Prof Kessel, together with a colleague, established IPEPH, an interdisciplinary forum for research, teaching and advocacy focusing on ethical issues in public health.  His research interests are in public health ethics and policy, and in 2006 Cambridge University Press published Prof Kessel's book Air, the Environment and Public Health.

Welcoming Prof Kessel's appointment as the Agency's Director of Public Health Strategy, Justin McCracken, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency said: "I am delighted that Prof Kessel is to join us as the Agency's first Director of Public Health Strategy.  His extensive experience in the fields of academia, research and public health within the NHS mean he is ideally placed to make a major contribution to the development of the Agency's public health research and service provision.

"I am particularly keen to strengthen the Agency's links with academic research and Prof Kessel will play a key role in helping us to achieve that."

Prof Kessel said: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to take on this exciting new role at the Health Protection Agency. I hope my diverse background in public health, primary care and academia will help the development of the Agency, ultimately leading to further improvements in the vital function of health protection."

Prof Kessel is due to join the Agency on March 16 2009.

Note to Editors

For further details of Prof Kessel's career, please contact the Health Protection Agency's press office on 020 8327 7750.

Last reviewed: 4 December 2008