Devi Sridhar Keynote Speaker

Professor Devi Sridhar is one of the world’s leading experts on global public health, health policy and pandemic preparedness. She is Professor of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, where she holds a Personal Chair, serves as Director of the Global Health Governance Programme and Director of the on-campus Master of Public Health (MPH) programme.

A globally recognised academic and policy expert, Devi’s research focuses on international health organisations, financing global public health and improving decision-making in health policy. She holds a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award and has held academic appointments at Oxford University, including Associate Professor in Global Health Politics and Fellow of Wolfson College, as well as a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at All Souls College. She has also held visiting positions at institutions including LMU Munich, Harvard School of Public Health, the Public Health Foundation of India and the University of Miami, where she serves as a Visiting Researcher.

Devi is the author of several acclaimed books, including How Not to Die (Too Soon): The Lies We’ve Been Sold and the Policies That Can Save Us (2025), Preventable: How a Pandemic Changed the World & How to Stop the Next One (2022), Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why?, co-authored with Chelsea Clinton, and The Battle Against Hunger. Her work has been widely published in leading journals including Nature, Science, The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and the British Medical Journal.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Devi became one of the most influential public health voices globally, providing expert analysis on pandemic response, health systems and disease prevention. She has advised governments, international organisations and policymakers on managing health emergencies and strengthening preparedness for future threats.

Alongside her academic work, Devi has served on the board of Save the Children UK, the World Economic Forum Council on the Health Industry and co-chaired the Harvard/LSHTM Independent Panel on the Global Response to Ebola. Combining academic rigour with practical policy insight, she offers audiences a compelling perspective on global health, leadership and the challenges shaping the future of public health.