Appointment of a chair to the animals in science committee

Dr John Landers has been appointed as chair of a new body that will advise the government on the use of animals in scientific procedures it was announced today (1st March 2013). Dr Landers, a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford’s Hertford College and former university lecturer on biological and historical demography, will take up the appointment with the Animals in Science Committee (ASC).  His appointment is effective from 1 March 2013 and will be for three years in the first instance. The position is unremunerated.

The ASC is an independent public body sponsored by the Home Office. It will provide independent advice about issues relating to the use of animals in scientific procedures within the context of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.The ASC is currently in the process of being constituted and replaces the Animals Procedures Committee. Further members are due to be recruited, with the full committee expected to be in place by the spring.

John Landers is a Senior Research Fellow at Hertford College, Oxford and a quondam* Fellow of All Souls College. He was previously Lecturer in Biological Anthropology at University College London and University Lecturer in Historical Demography at Oxford. His academic speciality is Historical Demography with particular reference to the history of infectious disease mortality. *(former)