HTA welcomes new CEO – Craig Muir

It has been announced that Craig Muir has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) with effect from 19 July 2010.

Issue date: 14 July 2010

Following his role as Director of Social Care Policy at the Department of Health (DH) for several years, Craig moved to WRVS to lead work to promote a step change in the charity’s ability to help make older people’s lives better.  Prior to these senior appointments, Craig was Chief Executive of Recruitment and Assessment Services (RAS), an executive agency of the Cabinet Office and Director of Planning at the Royal London NHS Trust.

Craig Muir said: “I am very excited to be joining the HTA. Over the last five years the Authority has proved itself to be a modern and proportionate regulator which has gained the confidence of both the public and professionals.  I aim to build on its successes and ensure that the HTA continues to safeguard the storage and use of human tissue, and to find even more efficient and effective ways of working.”  

HTA Chair Baroness Diana Warwick said: “I am delighted to announce this new appointment. Craig brings to the Authority a wide range of experience at a senior level.  His understanding of how government works and the health sector will be invaluable to the HTA in its aim of becoming a high-performing and forward-looking regulator, while supporting public and professional confidence.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact Andy Keast-Marriott, Interim Senior Media Adviser at the HTA, on 020 7211 3439, andy.keast-marriott@hta.gov.uk or Fiona McKinson, Communications Officer at the HTA on 020 7211 3460 or fiona.mckinson@hta.gov.uk.  Photographs of Craig Muir are available on request.

Notes to editors

• Craig Muir has been seconded to the HTA from the Department of Health.  His appointment will be from 19 July 2010 for an initial period of one year.
• The HTA’s departing CEO, Adrian McNeil, retired at the end of June 2010. He had been CEO of the HTA since July 2005.
• The HTA is a watchdog that protects public confidence by licensing organisations that store and use human tissue for purposes such as research, patient treatment, post-mortem examination, teaching, and public exhibitions. It also gives approval for organ and bone marrow donations from living people.
• The HTA works under two laws: the Human Tissue Act 2004 (HT Act) and the Human Tissue (Quality and Safety for Human Application) Regulations 2007 (Q&S Regulations). The HT Act applies to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.