Professor of Global Health and Sustainable Development, University College London, England

After serving as Director of the Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO Geneva, Anthony Costello returned to University College London in June 2018 as Professor of Global Health and Sustainable Development. Trained in paediatrics, he is a founder and chair of the international Lancet Countdown for Climate Action and Health, and senior adviser to the Children in All Policies 2030 programme supported by WHO, UNICEF and the Lancet. He was a co-founder of Independent SAGE which aims to bring a greater focus on public health, transparency and public engagement to the UK Covid response.

His research has focused on health and social interventions to reduce maternal and newborn mortality, and latterly to improve nutrition and diabetes, in poor rural populations of low and middle income countries. He believes in partnership models for collaboration with national institutions in these settings. He received the James Spence medal of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2011, and a BMJ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.