Roger Cox

Honorary Member 2011

Roger Cox was born in Swansea and attended schools in the Cardiff area.  He subsequently received a first degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Microbial Genetics from Reading University.  From 1971 to 1990 he undertook research at the MRC Radiobiology Unit (Harwell) centred on the cellular/molecular mechanisms of DNA damage response.  In 1990 he was appointed Head of Biomedical Effects at the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB Chilton) where he was involved in a broad range of research programmes on ionising/non-ionising radiation effects but with a major focus on the mechanisms and genetics of tumour induction.  He became Director of NRPB in 2003 and, following a multi-agency merger, in 2005 he became Director of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (Chilton HQ). Roger Cox also fulfilled senior scientific/managerial roles within HPA for emergency response and was closely involved in public health aspects of the London Bombings, the Buncefield Fire, the Polonium Incident in London and the Swine Flu outbreak. In addition to his duties with UK Government/Agencies Roger Cox has worked closely with international bodies with responsibilities in radiological protection, in particular: the International Commission on Radiological Protection (1989-date, Vice Chairman 2005-2009), the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (1989-2009, Head of UK Delegation 2003-2009), the European Commission (expert advisor and research co-ordinator), and the US National Academy of Sciences (Foreign Associate within BEIR V11 Committee 1999-2006). Roger Cox is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection, and a member of the Board of the Gray Cancer Institute. He retired from his HPA position in 2009.

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