isirv

Professor John Watson MB BS, MSc, FRCP, FFPH - was most recently the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Department of Health, UK.  He is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Visiting Professor in the Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences at University College London. He qualified from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, London, in 1979 and subsequently trained in clinical respiratory medicine and infectious disease epidemiology.  Between 1989 and 2003 he worked at Public Health England (formerly the Health Protection Agency) focussing on the surveillance, prevention and control of tuberculosis and acute respiratory infections (particularly influenza, legionnaires disease and SARS) at the local, national and international level.  He led the Health Protection Agency's public health response to pandemic influenza in 2009 and to the novel coronavirus in 2012. John was Chairman of isirv from 2008 until 2013.