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Brian Ferguson

Brian joined PHE in April 2013 having previously been Director of the Yorkshire & Humber Public Health and Quality Observatories since 2004, and Co-Director of the Northern and Yorkshire Cancer Registry & Information Service since April 2010. Brian was Chair of the UK & Ireland Association of PHOs from April 2006 to March 2011. Within PHE Brian was interim national Director of Knowledge and Intelligence between October 2013 and March 2015. He is now Chief Economist for PHE.

Brian has previously held posts as Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Economics, University of York, and was the founding Professor of Health Economics in the University of Leeds. He was a member of the National Public Health Career Scientist Award Panel for five years and was a PCT non-executive director for four years. Brian was a member of NICE’s Public Health Interventions Advisory Committee from 2005-08, and was a member of the Programme Advisory Board of the NIHR Public Health Research Programme between 2009-14. Brian has chaired the Research Advisory Committee of the National Diabetic Eye Screening Programme since 2011. He is a member of the International Editorial Board for the journal Public Health. Brian was admitted to the UK Public Health Register in February 2007.

Making the economic case for public health

How do we make the financial case for investing in public health? It’s an important question for Public Health England, because unless our recommendations and advice stack up economically, they are less likely to be implemented, however compelling the scientific …

Strengthening our intelligence

English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”.  The more of it we have, the better informed and equipped we are to address any issues and drive improvements. And this too is true for health.  Within Public Health …