A medical professor from Mill Hill who has travelled the world working at the forefront of infection control has been given an MBE.

Dilys Morgan, who heads the department of gastrointestinal, emerging and zoonotic infections at Public Health England (PHE), was named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for her services to health protection.

She has worked for nearly 12 years in a variety of medical and public health roles in Uganda, Northern Iraq, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

Her work at PHE, where she has been for six years, centres around indentifying new threats to public health through infections from contact with animals.

Professor Morgan also led the department in establishing a rapid risk assessment tool for newly identified infections.

She said: “I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour which reflects the hard work and commitment of many others besides myself over a great many years.

“I have been very fortunate to have had an interesting career with many opportunities to work in public health in the UK and also to do medical research abroad, mostly in Africa.”