Prof Devi Sridhar

Who Prof Devi Sridhar is

Prof Devi Sridhar is Professor and Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, where she holds a Personal Chair and is Founding Director of the Global Health Governance Programme. She holds a DPhil and MPhil from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and a BS from the University of Miami's Honors Medical Program. Her research focuses on the effectiveness of international health organisations, financing of global public health, and global health security. She served as a member of the Scottish Government's COVID-19 Advisory Group during the pandemic and has advised the WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO and the Scottish, UK and German governments. She co-chaired the Harvard-LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola (2015) and is the author of several books, including Preventable (2022) and How Not to Die (Too Soon) (2025), the latter arguing that government policy rather than individual behaviour is the primary determinant of population health outcomes.

References for this biography

1. 1.Devi Sridhar | The University of Edinburgh — Confirms current role, title, Wellcome Trust Investigator Award, academic background, and press office contact
2. 2.New Director of Master of Public Health | Usher Institute — Confirms appointment as Director of MPH on-campus programme from August 2024
3. 3.Harvard-LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola (WHO-hosted document) — Confirms Sridhar's role as Co-chair of the Ebola panel, November 2015
4. 4.UK Covid Inquiry – Witness Statement: Devi Sridhar — Confirms membership of Scottish Government COVID-19 Advisory Group and nature of her advisory role
5. 5.How Not to Die (Too Soon) – Penguin Books — Confirms 2025 book publication and advisory roles for WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO and multiple governments
6. 6.Professor Devi Sridhar | Royal Society of Edinburgh — Confirms Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, board of Save the Children UK, WEF Council on Health Industry
7. 7.Prof. Devi Sridhar (@devisridhar) on X — Confirms X/Twitter account identity: bio reads 'Professor & Chair of Global Public Health, Edinburgh Uni'

Notable achievements

• Co-chaired the Harvard-LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola (2015), whose findings were published in The Lancet Source ↗
• Founded the Global Health Governance Programme at the University of Edinburgh in 2014 Source ↗
• Appointed Director of the University of Edinburgh's Master of Public Health (MPH) on-campus programme from August 2024 Source ↗
• Served as a member of the Scottish Government's COVID-19 Advisory Group during the pandemic Source ↗
• Published How Not to Die (Too Soon): The Lies We've Been Sold and the Policies That Can Save Us (Viking, 2025), chosen by the Financial Times as one of the best health books of 2025 Source ↗

What Prof Devi Sridhar has said

• “A rare strain, conflict and aid cuts make this outbreak more dangerous than ever. In the interconnected world we live in, the west can't afford to turn away”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Cancer · 4 Oct 2026 · Ebola in the DRC needs the world’s attention now – if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t wait and watch ↗

• “Healthy ageing is largely about what happens in our 40s, 50s and 60s. It's about effective prevention and early management of conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and cancer. It's about our diet, as well as the regular movement of the muscles we need to stay functionally independent each day.”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Cancer · 4 Oct 2026 · Britons are not ageing healthily – we need to learn from countries that have made it a priority | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “You could be walking around symptom-free and not know you're pre-diabetic, living with hypertension or at a high risk of a heart attack”

  chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · NHS waiting lists · 29 Sept 2026 · Free cholesterol tests on the NHS are great – but here’s the five-point health MOT I’d really like to see | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “There could be 227 million obese children worldwide by 2040. But as South Korea and Denmark have shown, it is possible to tackle this crisis”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Children's health · 10 Sept 2026 · Other countries are streets ahead of the UK on childhood obesity. Here’s what they’re doing differently | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “The current level of hospitalisations usually occurs in January, but it's happening a month earlier.”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Don't call it a 'super flu' – but the NHS is right to be worried this winter | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “Right now, UK government public health teams are working hard to contain the spread of MenB as a priority, and so far, it looks like they're doing what they can as the data emerges on this particular MenB strain. It's just another example of why we need investment in public health.”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Meningitis is back – and here is why | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “If smoking was the cancer villain of the 20th century, eating ultra-processed food may be its 21st-century counterpart”

  chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “She would 'broadly agree' with the 80% figure, but added that the fact there was a strong link between socioeconomic standing and health was evidence of a correlation between public policy regulation and individual ill-health.”

  Professor and chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Elderly care & frailty · 27 Aug 2026 · At least 80% responsibility for ill health in old age down to individual, study says ↗

• “Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope”

  Columnist on cancer research and public health · Cancer · 27 Aug 2026 · Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “While I love the idea of 'only five minutes', it's simply not true from the data we have.”

  Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Elderly care & frailty · 27 Aug 2026 · Fit with just five minutes’ exercise a day? I don’t believe it | Devi Sridhar ↗

• “obesity is not a theoretical problem that we have time to solve. It's killing people and disabling them in daily life. Just ask any clinician about the impact of these drugs on people with heart disease, diabetes, fatty liver disease, joint failure … the list goes on.”

  chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh · Diabetes · 27 Aug 2026 · The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhar ↗

Recent social activity

• My latest column on healthy ageing : https://t.co/ZzV7kMqhfi

  x.com ↗

• My latest column on what AI use could be doing to your brain https://t.co/uQENLdE5o8

  x.com ↗

Where Prof Devi Sridhar has been quoted

1. Share your health and fitness questions for Devi Sridhar, Mariella Frostrup, and Joel Snapetheguardian.com · 4 Oct 2026
2. Ebola in the DRC needs the world’s attention now – if your neighbour’s house is on fire, you don’t wait and watchtheguardian.com · 4 Oct 2026
3. Britons are not ageing healthily – we need to learn from countries that have made it a priority | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 4 Oct 2026
4. Free cholesterol tests on the NHS are great – but here’s the five-point health MOT I’d really like to see | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 29 Sept 2026
5. Other countries are streets ahead of the UK on childhood obesity. Here’s what they’re doing differently | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 10 Sept 2026
6. Don't call it a 'super flu' – but the NHS is right to be worried this winter | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
7. Meningitis is back – and here is why | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
8. Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
9. At least 80% responsibility for ill health in old age down to individual, study saystheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
10. Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
11. Fit with just five minutes’ exercise a day? I don’t believe it | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
12. The WHO learned to love ‘anti-obesity’ jabs in 2025. I don’t fully agree, but I get it | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• 'Terminal prostate cancer has taught me one lesson I want to pass on'BBC
• You have a higher chance of getting cancer at a younger age than your parents. So what went wrong? | Devi SridharThe Guardian
• MHRA approves catumaxomab to treat cancer-related fluid build-up in the abdomenGOV.UK

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://edwebprofiles.ed.ac.uk/profile/devi-sridhar
• Press office emailpress.office@ed.ac.ukpublished here ↗
• Xhttps://x.com/devisridhar

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.