Global Health Lives - Series 6
Martin
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 commercial determinants of health, corruption, political polarisation and his early life in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Vasee
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.
Lina
Professor Lina Madaniyazi is an associate professor inNagasaki University,School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. Linais an environmental epidemiologist who focuses on the health impact of air pollution and climatechange. 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 toBeijing to Brisbane to Nagasaki and the importance of people in her life.
Karen
Professor Karen Devries is a professor of social epidemiology at the London school of hygiene and tropical medicine. Karen uses epidemiological methods tounderstand 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.
Nothando
Professor Nothando Ngwenya is a faculty member at the Africa Health ResearchInstitute in South Africa. Nothandois 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.
Siri
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]