Position Description

The Department of Health and Social Care is looking to appoint 4 members; 3 expert and a lay member; to the Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COM).

As a member of COM you will be expected to:

• Contribute to discussions of the Committee working alongside recognised experts who assess other aspects of the detailed technical data on genotoxins under consideration (e.g. mode of action/mechanism studies, traditional and novel toxicity testing strategies, statistics)
• Contribute to the Committee’s discussions, including consideration of detailed statements and conclusions
• Contribute to other discussions (such as in working groups or to draft text within your specialism if the need arises)

Selection Criteria

Essential criteria

All applicants must possess the expertise to provide independent scrutiny and credible advice on the issues that fall within the remit of the COM.

You must:

• demonstrate a strong track record of relevant, significant achievements at a senior level;
• have the ability to operate effectively on a national expert scientific committee where you can offer advice and constructive challenge and accept challenge from others;
• possess sound judgement, with an ability to critically analyse a wide range of complex information and make evidence-based recommendations;
• demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to gain the confidence of fellow committee members and of the committee’s stakeholders.

Expert Members

In addition, for the Expert Member roles applicants must have a track record of achievement in one or more of the following fields:

• Genetic toxicology: applicants must have experience in the conduct and interpretation of in silico methods, and in vitro, and in vivo tests. An interest in molecular epidemiology would also be of value.
• Carcinogenesis: applicants should be able to demonstrate an interest in cancer risk assessment and in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis both genotoxic and non–genotoxic mechanisms.
• Toxicokinetics and Metabolism: applicants should have expertise in interpretation of data on the disposition, Metabolism and Toxicokinetics of chemicals and low dose effects especially in relation to genotoxicity testing.
• Computational Toxicology and Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSARs): applicants must have expertise in the application of computational toxicology and QSARs and their application to genotoxicity.
• Epigenetics and trans-generational effects: applicants with expertise in epigenetics with relevance to genotoxicity endpoints.
• Reproductive or developmental toxicology: applicants with expertise in developmental toxicology and adverse reproductive effects of mutagenic and genotoxic chemicals.

Lay Member

A lay member will be expected to work effectively with expert members of the committee to ensure the committee’s advice addresses the concerns of, and can be understood by, the UK population as a whole.

In addition, for the lay Member role applicants must have:

• a good track record of communicating scientific issues to a non-technical audience.
• experience in the assessment and interpretation of data, and strong analytical skills.

Desirable Criteria

Applicants might:

• have contributed to national and international forum whose work is within the remit of the COM
• be able to offer additional specialist skills (e.g. risk communication to the general public)

How to Apply

For further information about the role and the criteria please see the candidate information pack on https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care/about/recruitment#boards-and-committees.