Linda Bauld and Fiona McQueen honoured for Covid response in Queen's birthday list

Professors Linda Bauld and Fiona McQueen are among those who have been named in the Queen’s Birthday honours for their actions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prof Bauld, Professor of Public Health at Edinburgh University, received an OBE for services to guiding public health responses to, and public understanding of, Covid-19.

Prof McQueen, former Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland, was given a CBE for services to the NHS.

Other recipients include Ian McCubbin, a manufacturing expert on the UK Covid vaccine taskforce, and Paul Cackette, Scottish Government Director of Outbreak Control Management, both given a CBE.

Linda Bauld and Fiona McQueen are among those honoured.

Professor Michael Barrett, Director at Glasgow’s Lighthouse testing Laboratory, and Dr Kerri Neylon, Deputy Medical Director for Primary Care at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, received OBEs.

Prof Linda Bauld said was “delighted” to receive the honour.

She said: “I think everybody working in public health has had to step up during the pandemic and try and figure out how they were going to contribute, what their skills were.

“I have, for quite some time, engaged with the media and done a lot of science communication – trying to interpret data and communicate it to the public and decision makers.

“I think the OBE is for two things, it’s for contributing to the response to address the pandemic and public understanding.”

Prof Bauld also said she hopes the pandemic will show universities and other research bodies the value of scientific communication, while also helping to improve scientific literacy.

Interest in the public health field, she said, has also increased in the last year.

“There’s absolutely no doubt to me that epidemiology, public health, virology, all the disciplines associated with trying to find solutions to a crisis on the science side are more accessible to pupils now,” she said.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack congratulated Scots on the list.

“Her Majesty’s Birthday Honours are a fitting tribute to those in Scotland and right across the UK who have done so much to get the country through the pandemic,” he said.

"That includes Ian McCubbin for his work on the vaccines taskforce, Professor Michael Barrett of the Glasgow Lighthouse covid testing lab, and former chief nursing officer Fiona McQueen"

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