Abstract

He led the development of a new Urban Health Initiative to strengthen health systems capacity in cities to support health, climate and air quality benefits from urban policies, which is under pilot implementation in Africa and Asia. He also led the development of a framework for how public health can contribute to Habitat III objectives and the New Urban Agenda.

He previously led knowledge synthesis about the health co-benefits of climate change mitigation policies, in a ‘Health in a Green Economy’ series and contributed to the development of health indicators for post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. He has worked to include health into strategic environment assessments and into Development Banks Safeguards. He has contributed to the establishment of an inter-ministerial process for transport health and environment in Europe (THE PEP), led a health task force in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and has previously engaged in health risk assessments in the ex-Soviet Union.

He has worked in academia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and as a visiting professor at Columbia University School of Public Health. He worked at the WHO Regional Office for Europe, with the World Bank, and in the organisation and innovation of primary care systems in Brazil, where he also practised clinical medicine.

He has served in many science/policy committees at national and international levels and is engaged in many global partnerships.

He currently advises governments, civil society and philanthropy about health as it relates to non-heath sector policies and the urban environment.

His research and publications include health impact assessment as well as perceptions and communication of science and health risks by scientists, media and politicians.

He is a medical doctor and an epidemiologist with an MSc and a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine