Rate My Professor Anthony Harnden

Professor Anthony Harnden serves as the Chair of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and as Professor of Primary Care in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. With over 40 years of experience in the National Health Service (NHS), primarily as a general practitioner, he has been the senior partner at Morland House Surgery in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, since 1990. Harnden graduated from Birmingham University Medical School with an MB ChB in 1983, followed by hospital training in paediatrics and vocational training in general practice. He subsequently obtained an MSc in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners (FRCGP), the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (FRCPCH), and holds a Governing Body Fellowship at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, since 2002. His academic appointments include a University Lecturership in General Practice from 2001, Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Primary Care Health Sciences from 2017 to 2022, and Director of the Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit.

Harnden's research specializations centre on primary care paediatrics, with particular emphasis on infections in primary care, common childhood infections, vaccine-preventable infections, the early diagnosis of rare but serious childhood diseases, and clinical trials in children. He leads a five-year NIHR programme grant studying the early use of antibiotics in at-risk children with influenza, incorporating clinical trials, qualitative research, microbiology, health economics, and clinical prediction rules. He has made significant contributions through influential committee roles, including GP member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) from 2006 to 2024, serving as Deputy Chair from 2015 to 2024 and Chair of the adolescent sub-committee; General Medical Council (GMC) Council member from 2017 until December 2024, where he chaired the Remuneration Committee; primary care lead for the Confidential Enquiry into Child Deaths in 2008; and chair of the group developing a Child Health strategy for the Royal College of General Practitioners from 2010 to 2015. Additionally, he is an editorial advisor for the British Medical Journal series ‘Easily Missed?’ and a Lay Commissioner on the Judicial Appointments Commission. His work has focused on protecting patient safety through robust surveillance and risk-proportionate regulation.