Facing the Public Health Future

This event is being held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, Room 2.55 from 12.30 -14.30pm on Thursday 18 September 2025.

RSA Fellows, Edinburgh University students and staff, and anyone with an interest in thinking about Public Health challenges and solutions for the future are encouraged to join Professor Devi Sridhar and others to discuss this topic. This will be an opportunity to discuss Professor Devi Sridhar’s new book “How not to die (too soon) – the lies we’ve been sold and the policies that can save us”. As well as discussing Devi’s new book, there will be a facilitated discussion, including academics, RSA Fellows and alumni from the Edinburgh Masters in Public Health Programme (MPH). These will be stimulating, challenging and important discussions.

There will also be opportunities for book signing by Devi Sridhar.

Devi Sridhar is a Professor at the University of Edinburgh where she holds a Personal Chair in Global Public Health. She is Founding Director of the Global Health Governance Programme and has held a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award. Devi is the author of several books including her latest one ‘How not to die (too soon)’.

Professor Cathie Sudlow is Director of the Usher Institute and Head of School for Population Health Sciences. She is also Director of the UKRI Adolescent Health Study (AHS). Cathie is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was awarded an OBE for services to medical research in 2020. In 2023, Prof Sudlow was commissioned by the Chief Medical Officer for England, the UK National Statistician and NHS England to undertake an independent review of the UK-wide health data landscape. “Uniting the UK’s Health Data: A Huge Opportunity for Society” was published in November 2024, it sets out a bold vision for how the barriers and inefficiencies that currently delay the safe and secure use of health data to improve lives can be overcome, with key recommendations to transform the health data ecosystem. Cathie’s research interests have always been firmly embedded in the world of big data. Over the last 15 years, her focus has been on leading large-scale, collaborative, open-science initiatives that enable a better understanding of the causes and consequences of health and disease across the life course, leading to new and improved approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Nason Maani is a Senior Lecturer in Inequalities and Global Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh’s Global Health Policy Unit, in the School of Social and Political Science. His research focuses on the commercial determinants of health, seeking to describe the mechanisms through which commercial actors affect health inequalities, knowledge, and public discourse. He is editor of the Oxford University Press textbook “the Commercial Determinants of Health”, and author of the upcoming book “A Healthy Profit”, published in 2026 by Oxford University Press. He serves as Deputy Director of the Local Health, Global Profits Research theme in the UKRI Population Health Improvement, is a Commonwealth Fund Senior Harkness Fellow, a Fellow of the UK Royal Society of the Arts, and the host of Money Power Health, a podcast series discussing the social and commercial forces that shape health.

Iain Shaw FRSA is a Fellow of the RSA and one of seven Directors at Media Education (CIC), working together in close collaboration in a horizontal structure with equal pay and authority. His expertise lies in using creativity, media training and production as the framework in which to mentor people with lived experience to set their own agendas and make their own,informed arguments for the changes they want to see for themselves and others. He loves subsidiarity. He will be advocating for local approaches which shift power; building trust, ownership, control, motivation and identifying clear rewards for everyone involved.

Celia Tennant FRSA is a Fellow of the RSA. She is passionate about building a better Scotland. She has been with Inspiring Scotland since launch in 2008, becoming Chief Executive in 2013. Inspiring Scotland is one of the largest Venture Philanthropy organisations in the world, bringing the VP approach to working with charities across Scotland. As Chief Executive Celia has shaped Inspiring Scotland’s values and vision and is a champion of collaborative working to tackle deep-rooted social problems. Celia is a Director of Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation, a Trustee of Winning Scotland Foundation, she sits on The Child Poverty Programme Board, and the Governance Board of the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit.

Zeshan Anwar is currently completing his Master of Public Health (MPH) studies at the University of Edinburgh and he will continue his studies at the University of Oxford. He has a background in Biomedical Sciences and professional experience as a Data Analyst at Apple, with a strong interest in harnessing health technology to improve public health.

Mary Stewart is a Specialty Registrar in Public Health, training to become an NHS Consultant in Public Health. Prior to starting public health training she worked for the Scottish Government for 13 years across a broad range of policy areas with a public health dimension, including health protection policy, violence reduction and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. She is based with NHS Fife, but during specialty training has also undertaken attachments with NHS Lothian, Public Health Scotland, NHS Shetland and the UK Health Security Agency. Mary’s MPH research at University of Edinburgh, completed in 2022, looked at the role of third sector staff in supporting people who were homeless to access healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please note, all attendees will be required to bring their booking ticket (digital ticket accepted) and photographic ID due to security restrictions.

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