Angela McLean

Early life and education McLean was born on 31 May 1961 in Kingston, Jamaica, the daughter of Elizabeth and Andre McLean. and graduated in 1982.

Career and research McLean's research interests are in the use of mathematical models to aid our understanding of the evolution and spread of infectious agents. Her research investigates how quickly infections grow inside individuals, and also how fast they spread amongst individuals.

She has worked on infectious diseases of humans such as coronavirus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and scrapie.

In 1990, McLean won a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford, and between 1994 and 1998 was seconded to the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Between 1998 and 2000, she became head of Mathematical Biology at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's Institute for Animal Health.

In 2000, she was appointed as Professor of Mathematical Biology, University of Oxford and Fellow of St Catherine's College, Oxford.

In 2005, McLean also became director of the Institute for Emerging Infections of Humans in the James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford.

In 2008, she was elected as a senior research fellow in theoretical life sciences at All Souls College, Oxford.

In 2009, she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). She co-authored a number of Restatements published by the Royal Society and the Oxford Martin School. The topics included: the health effects of low-level ionising radiation; neonicotinoid insecticides and insect pollinators; the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on wildlife; the control of bovine tuberculosis.

In 2019, McLean was appointed as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, the first woman to be appointed to the post.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021, she attended meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and was deputy to Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA). Together with Professor Graham Medley she co-chaired the SAGE sub-committee Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M-O).

In 2023, the Cabinet Secretary announced that McLean had been selected by the Prime Minister as the new Government Chief Scientific Adviser after an open competition, to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance. McLean is the first woman to be appointed to this post.

Awards and honours McLean's honours and awards include 1998 – elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) 2009 – elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) 2011 – Gabor Medal of the Royal Society 2018 – elected a member of the Academia Europaea 2018 – Weldon Memorial Prize 2023 – elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Personal life McLean married David van Oss in 1986. They have two daughters and one son together.