Dr Debby Reynolds is to be the Veterinary Director of the Food Standards Agency, Geoffrey Podger,the Agency’s Chief Executive, announced yesterday.

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Dr Reynolds succeeds David Taylor, who was Head of the Veterinary Public Health Unit, and has now retired. She will take up her post on Monday 26th February.


The post falls within the Senior Civil Service (SCS) payband 4 (£57,367 – £95,625).


NOTES FOR EDITORS


The new post of Veterinary Director was advertised in October last year in national and Sunday newspapers, and in relevant weekly magazines. Interviews were held just before Christmas.

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Dr Reynolds was previously Head of the Endemic Animal Diseases and Zoonoses veterinary team in the State Veterinary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF).


She graduated from the University of Bristol with Honours in 1975, and joined MAFF in 1984 after obtaining her PhD at the Institute of Animal Health, Compton, and the University of Reading.


While at MAFF and its Agencies, she has worked in a number of areas. She is a former Head of Bacteriology at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency. In MAFF she dealt, among other matters, with salmonella in poultry, TB in cattle, and veterinary surveillance.


Debby Reynolds is married with one son, and has travelled widely to pursue her interest in ornithology.

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