The Executive Committee consists of up to 8 officers (see below) who meet and teleconference regularly to manage the business of running the PHMEG.
Dr Sally Millership MSc, MD, FRCPath, FFPH
Sally trained at Kings College Cambridge and St Thomas' Hospital London qualifying in medicine in 1979. She initially trained as a microbiologist. Her first consultant appointment was as Senior Lecturer in Bacteriology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital in 1986, with major research interests in gastrointestinal pathogens and bacterial typing. She received an MD from the University of Cambridge in 1987. She had a change of career in 1993 and moved to the newly created post of Consultant in Communicable Disease Control in N Essex health authority, the first in Essex. She has been a CCDC in Essex and consultant microbiologist to Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow since then, with special interests in healthcare associated infections and the application of information technology to improve surveillance of communicable diseases. She has published on a variety of communicable disease and health protection topics, and acted as a lead local investigator in a major multicentre study of Campylobacter infection funded by the Food Standards Agency. She has been a member of PHMEG since 1994 and on its executive group for almost as long, first as a regional representative, then as an officer.
Dr David Irwin
Dr David Irwin graduated in Medicine from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1986. He started training in Public Health Medicine in the North Thames NHS Regions in 1991. During his training he studied for and was awarded the MSc in Public Health Medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He became a Member of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine by examination in 1995 and was elected a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2002. His first Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC) post was at Rotherham Health Authority (January-September 1996), where he managed a community outbreak of meningococcal septicaemia. Since then he has been a CCDC in Essex. At the time of his appointment in Essex he undertook a part-time secondment for 6 months to the Chemical Incident Response Service at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London. While there he co-wrote Chemical Incident Management for Public Health Physicians. With colleagues he has published a number of papers on communicable disease control.
Sophia Makki, PHMEG Treasurer
Dr Sophia Makki received her MD from Albert Szent Gyorgy Medical University in Hungary in 1994. She has worked as a junior Dr in Hungary, Sudan and in the UK. She started as an SHO in Public Health in 2003 with a view to becoming a CCDC. She has worked with the East Midlands North team as a CCDC since February 2009.
Dr Peter English
Qualified in medicine from the University of Liverpool in 1984, and after a spell as a general practitioner joined the Specialist Register in public health medicine in 1998. His particular interests are in vaccination (he is editor of the journal Vaccines in Practice) and health informatics intelligence.
Dr Martin Schweiger
Son of a shoe maker who gave up the smell of wood and leather for the intriguing smell of hospitals. Brought to Leeds Medical School, in 1967, by the UCCA clearing house computer found that he enjoyed Yorkshire and its people, but left to spend a year as a volunteer doctor in Bangladesh. He returned seven years later with one wife and two children, convinced that that much human distress was preventable. Public health training has been followed by practice as a Consultant in Communicable Disease Control / Medical Officer for Environmental Health based in the West Yorkshire Health Protection Unit with particular responsibility for Leeds, then Bradford and currently with Calderdale.
Dr Wendy Phillips
Qualified in medicine from University of Sheffield in 1982, and joined the Specialist Register in public health medicine in 2002. She is currently Unit Director of South Yorkshire Health Protection Unit. Following severe flooding in 2007 she has been involved in developing a framework for risk assessment in regard to chemical contamination.
Jackie Hyland
Dr Jackie Hyland is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine (CD&EH) based in Fife, Scotland. She covers all health protection issues in the local health board but specialises in environmental health protection issues both acute and chronic. Jackie currently chairs the PHMEG CPD Group
Prof Harsh Duggal
Harsh qualified in medicine from Pune, India in 1977, had a short stint in WHO Smallpox Eradication Programme and completed training in Public Health in West Midlands in mid 80's. Contributed in 1985 to the investigation of the largest outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease in UK associated with Stafford Hospital. Following the publication of the Acheson report Harsh was one of the first few Consultants in Communicable Disease Control appointed and facilitated the development of this function in the West Midlands. Currently Director of Health Protection in West Midlands North Health Protection Unit, Harsh has been Assistant Registrar and presently Faculty of Public Health advisor for West Midlands and sits on Faculty Professional Affairs and Education Committees. Harsh is Hon Professor In Communicable Disease Control, Staffordshire University and Hon Senior Lecturer in University of Birmingham, is actively involved in public health education and succession planning. Special interests include immunisation, blood born viruses and sexual health.
