Anthony Costello
University College London, UK
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. Previously he was Director of the Institute for Global Health at UCL. He is co-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 (www.cap-2030.org)
His research has focused on cluster randomised trials of community mobilisation for maternal, newborn and metabolic health in Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Malawi. His book ‘The Social Edge. The Power of Sympathy Groups for our Health, Wealth and Sustainable Future’ describes this work and speculates on ways we might tackle 21st century problems in the western world. With Sir David King 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.