Meet the Research Accreditation Panel

The Research Accreditation Panel is chaired by independent member Professor Paul Boyle CBE. Professor Boyle is currently Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University and was previously President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester from 2014 to 2019. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council from 2010 to 2014 and President of Science Europe, representing over 50 European funding agencies. Paul is Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Council, which is Scotland’s highest level science advisory body; a Board Member of Universities UK, who provide leadership and support to executive heads of 133 UK University institutions as well as Chair of their Research Policy Network; Vice-President of the European University Association which represents over 800 universities in 48 countries; a Council Member and Trustee of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, which has over 500 member institutions in 37 Commonwealth countries and an ‘impact champion’ for the United Nations HeForShe global solidarity movement for gender equality.

Independent member Professor Chris Dibben is Chair in Geography at the University of Edinburgh, specialising in health and environment. He is also Director of the Longitudinal Studies Centre Scotland, Principal-Investigator on the Census & Administrative Data Longitudinal Hub and Director of the Administrative Data Liaison Service. Chris also leads the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research hosted by the University of Edinburgh.

Independent member Tricia Dodd is a freelance statistical consultant working mainly with national survey organisations, charities and government departments. She previously held a number of Senior Civil Service positions within the Office for National Statistics including: Chief Methodology Officer at ONS (2016-2018), Deputy Director responsible for Crime and Regional Statistics, ONS (2013-2016) and Deputy Director responsible for Health Statistics and Life Events, ONS (2011-2013).

Independent member Andrew Garrett is Executive Vice President-Scientific Operations at ICON Plc. Between 1995 and 2016 he was Vice President-Clinical Analysis and Reporting Services at Quintiles, Inc. He has previously served on the Board of Directors at Cenduit LLC (2015) and the Administrative Data Research Network (2014-2017). Between 2017 and 2019 he was Chair of the Royal Statistical Society’s Data Science Section and is a member of the UK Data Forum.

Independent member Misa Tanaka is the Head of Research at the Bank of England. Prior to becoming the Head of Research in 2018, she has held a number of positions across Monetary Analysis, Financial Stability, and Prudential Policy Areas of the Bank.

Independent member Alex Singleton is a Professor of Geographic Information Science at the University of Liverpool, where he was appointed as a Lecturer in 2010. Previously he held research positions at University College London, where he was also awarded a PhD in 2007.

Independent member Mark Brewin is Deputy Director for Data Sharing & Acquisition at HM Revenue & Customs. He has previously held various positions within the Civil Service, including serving as Head of Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence’s Technology Management within HMRC’s Datalab & Transparency team.

Emma Gordon is Director of the Strategic Hub for ADR UK. Emma joined ADR UK from HM Treasury, where she led the team supporting government economists and social researchers across government. Prior to this, Emma was Head of Health Analysis at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Sarah Henry represents the National Statistician on the Panel. Sarah is the Director of Methods, Data and Research at the Office for National Statistics. She was previously Head of Intelligence and Performance at Manchester City Council.

Paul Lodge is the Chief Data Officer for the Department for Work and Pensions. Paul was previously responsible for the identification and development of new capability to address the cyber threat to the UK in the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU) at the National Crime Agency.

Neil McIvor is the Chief Data Officer and Chief Statistician at the Department for Education. He was previously Deputy Head of Profession for Statistics, and temporary Chief Data Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions.

Siobhan Carey is the Chief Executive and Registrar General at Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Prior to taking this role in 2016 she was Chief Statistician and Head of Profession at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (2011-2016).

Roger Halliday is the Chief Statistician and Data Officer at the Scottish Government. Prior to being appointed to this role he was an analyst at the Department for Health focusing on using evidence to influence decision making around health.

Stephanie Howarth is Chief Statistician at the Welsh Government. In this role she is responsible for the statistics produced by Welsh Government and is the senior statistical advisor to Welsh Ministers. She is also the co-Director of Administrative Data Research Wales, part of the wider ADR UK partnership. Prior to this, she worked in a range of statistical roles in both the Welsh Government and the Office for National Statistics.