Council
The Council of the Society normally consists of up to 17 members. Of these, seven representatives are elected by the membership of the Society, seven are appointed by Council, as Chairs and co-Chairs of our committees, plus the President, General Secretary and Treasurer. Council is responsible for the governance of the Society; members of Council bear the legal responsibilities of Trustees of the Charity and Directors of the Company and take a variety of important strategic and legal decisions on how the Society deploys its assets and supports its members.
Vacancies
We are looking across the breadth of our international membership for three Elected Members of Council, to serve a three-year term from January 2024–December 2026. All Elected Members of Council also sit on one of the activity Committees as a Council representative.
Please read the Job Description and submit a completed nominations form to [email protected] by 7 May 2023. Where there are more candidates than vacancies, members will be notified and entered into a ballot to be elected by the voting membership.


Learn more about who our current Council members are below.
MEMBERS OF COUNCIL 2023
Executive
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President
Professor Gurdyal Besra
University of Birmingham, UK
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General Secretary
Dr Karen Robinson
University of Nottingham, UK -
Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee
Professor Robin May
University of Birmingham, UK
Chairs and co-Chairs of Committees
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co-Chair of Sustainability Committee
Professor Jose Bengoechea
Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland
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co-Chair of Sustainability Committee
Dr Sarah Maddocks
Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK
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co-Chair of Building Communities Committee
Professor Gill Elliott
University of Surrey, UK
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co-Chair of Building Communities Committee
Professor Paul Hoskisson
University of Strathclyde, UK
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co-Chair of Impact and Influence Committee
Catrin Moore
St George’s, University of London, UK
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co-Chair of Impact and Influence Committee
Dr Tina Joshi
University of Plymouth, UK
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Chair of Early Career Microbiologists' Forum Executive Committee
Jo Kite
University of Cambridge, UK
Elected Members
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Professor Laura Bowater
University of East Anglia, UK
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Dr Sharon Brookes
Animal and Plant Health Agency, UK
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Professor Nigel Brown
Emeritus University of Edinburgh, UK
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Dr David Clarke
University College Cork, Ireland
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Dr Andrew Edwards
Imperial College London, UK
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Professor Kim Hardie
University of Nottingham, UK
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Professor Alan McNally
University of Birmingham, UK
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