Global Health Lives

Professor Martin McKee is Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is the former chair of the European Public Health Association and President of the British Medical Association. Martin is director of research policy at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.

Martin is a public health physician who works on the determinants of health, particularly in a changing world. In this episode he talks about health and health systems in Eastern Europe and the former countries of the USSR, the importance of commercial determinants to health, corruption, political polarisation and his early life in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Dr Vasee Moorthy is a Senior Advisor in Science and Strategy at the World Health Organization (WHO). He is a medical doctor with expertise in infectious diseases and clinical trials. 

In this episode Vasee describes his work in malaria and malaria vaccines, and the importance of clinical trials, including WHO’s work on improving the system for conducting them. 

Professor Lina Madaniyazi is an associate professor in Nagasaki University, School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. Lina is an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on the health impact of air pollution and climate change.

In this episode Lina talks about the impact of global heating on mortality, the wide effects of air pollution on health. She also talks her journey from Xinjiang to Beijing to Brisbane to Nagasaki and the importance of people in her life. 

Professor Karen Devries is a professor of social epidemiology at the London school of hygiene and tropical medicine. Karen uses epidemiological methods to understand and reduce violence against children, adolescents and women. 

In this episode we will discuss the global statistics on violence against children and women and interventions to reduce violence in schools. Karen talks about how to do this work in the correct way, taking care of participants and also the researchers. 

Professor Nothando Ngwenya is a faculty member at the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa. Nothando is a psychologist, who also has a degree in computer science and specialises in adolescent mental health.

In this episode Nothando talks about complex trauma, adolescent mental health and the problems with measurement, her childhood growing up in Johannesburg, and her own issues with fertility.

Professor Siri Aas Rustad is the research director at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. Siri researches conflicts around the world.

In this episode Siri talks about the global conflict landscape, how the numbers are estimated, why the world is as it is, and her predictions for the future. 

[Note, the episode was recorded in September 2025. All the numbers quoted are correct as of that month.]

Professor Essi Viding is a Professor of Developmental Psychopathology and the Pro-Vice Provost for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge at UCL. Essi is psychologist who works to understand the origins of behaviour and mental health disorders. In this episode Essi describes the developmental origins of mental health problems, the recent rise in mental health problems in adolescents and the role of social media, and the importance of supporting women to pursue careers in science. 

Dr Hamza al-Kateab is a Syrian doctor, an activist and a public health advocate. He set up and ran a hospital in East Aleppo during the war in Syria. This work was documented in the film For Sama, created by his wife Waad al-Kateab. Hamza is now an activist working to stop the bombing of health facilities in Syria and other conflict areas through the campaign “Action For Sama” (www.actionforsama.com / @actionforsama).

Professor Francesco Checchi is a professor of epidemiology and international health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Francesco is an epidemiologist who has worked for 25 years in crisis and humanitarian settings with Médecins Sans Frontières and Save the Children and as an academic. 

In this episode he talks about his work estimating mortality in conflicts and on vaccinations. He also discusses broader issues about humanitarian work. Francesco also talks about his own mental health and how he has coped. 

Prof Naomi Priest is a lifecourse and social epidemiologist at the Australian National University. Naomi’s research focuses on understanding how social forces become embedded and embodied to influence health and health inequalities throughout life.

In this episode, Naomi talks about how racism impacts child and adolescent health and school-based interventions to reduce racism.