Prof Devi SridharAcademic

Biography

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

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

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Cancer
• Elderly care & frailty
• Diabetes

Stated areas of expertise

• Global health governance
• Pandemic preparedness and response
• International health organisations
• Financing of global public health
• Health policy and government accountability
• Infectious disease and health security

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 they’ve said

• “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 ·

Source references

1. Don't call it a 'super flu' – but the NHS is right to be worried this winter | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Meningitis is back – and here is why | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
3. Colon cancer is on the rise among young people – and research points to one major culprit | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
4. At least 80% responsibility for ill health in old age down to individual, study saystheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
5. Cancer is now a story of the good, the bad and the ugly – but also hope | Devi Sridhartheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

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.