Hugh Pennington

Professor (Thomas) Hugh Pennington MBBS, PhD, DSc, FRCPath, FRCP (Edin) FMedSci, FRSE (born 1938) is an emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.^[1] Outside academia, he is best known as the chair of the Pennington Group enquiry into the 1996 Scottish E.coli outbreak.^[2]

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Academic career

Pennington obtained his undergraduate degree and PhD from St Thomas' Hospital Medical School in 1962 and 1967, respectively. He spent a year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before moving to the Glasgow Institute of Virology in 1969, where he researched vaccinia, smallpox and other viruses. He was appointed Chair of Bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen in 1979, where he remained until his retirement in 2003^[1]. His research focused on improved bacteria typing, or "fingerprinting", methods. He was dean of the medical school between 1987 and 1992.^[1]

Pennington Group enquiry

In late November 1996, an E.coli outbreak in central Scotland prompted the Scottish Executive to establish an expert group, chaired by Pennington. The Pennington Group convened between December 1996 and March 1997. Another case of E.coli infection occurred in Tayside in January 1997 and the group was tasked with investigating the additional outbreak.^[3]

Subsequent public work

Following his chairmanship of the E.coli enquiry, Pennington has worked for the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments as an expert on microbiology and food safety, and has also appeared in British media as an expert. He is a member of the Scottish Food Advisory Committee^[1], part of the Food Standards Agency, an agency he recommended the government create^[4]. He is also a member of the World Food Programme Technical Advisory Group.^[1] He is the former Vice Chair of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, which advises the BBC.^[5]

He has criticised the UK^[6] and German^[7] governments for their handling of BSE and the NHS for their handling of MRSA^[8]. He chaired a 2005 enquiry into a Welsh E.coli outbreak.^[9]

In 2003, Pennington published When Food Kills (ISBN 0198525176), a popular science book on the topic of BSE, E.coli and public food safety.

= References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} University of Aberdeen (2003-10-07). "Renowned experts retire from the University of Aberdeen". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
2. ^ (1997-04-08) "Annex 1", Report on the circumstances leading to the 1996 outbreak of infection with E.coli 0157 in Central Scotland, the implications for food safety and the lessons to be learned. Scottish Office. ISBN 0114958513. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
3. ^ (1997-04-08) "Section 1.2", Report on the circumstances leading to the 1996 outbreak of infection with E.coli 0157 in Central Scotland, the implications for food safety and the lessons to be learned. Scottish Office. ISBN 0114958513. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
4. ^ "Health Food agency delays 'could cost lives'", BBC NEWS, 1999-01-24. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
5. ^ The Work of the Broadcasting Council 2005/2006. BBC Scotland. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
6. ^ "Ministers blamed for food crises", BBC NEWS, 2001-06-13. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
7. ^ "Britain's BSE lessons 'ignored'", BBC NEWS, 2000-11-25. Retrieved on 2007-07-23. 
8. ^ Hugh Pennington (2005-12-15). "Don't pick your nose". London Review of Books 27 (24). Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
9. ^ "'No stone unturned' E.coli pledge", BBC NEWS, 2006-06-27. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.