Prof. Sir Jonathan Van-Tam

Prof. Sir Jonathan Van-Tam is a pioneering epidemiologist, public health advocate, and former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England (2017–2022). He currently serves as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Medicine & Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham.

He graduated in Medicine from the University of Nottingham in 1987. After clinical practice, he moved into public health and epidemiology, specialising in influenza and respiratory viruses. He became Senior Lecturer at Nottingham in 1997 before spending several years in the pharmaceutical industry at SmithKline Beecham, Roche, and Aventis Pasteur MSD.

He returned to the public sector in 2004, leading the Pandemic Influenza Office at the Health Protection Agency, then became Professor of Health Protection at Nottingham in 2007. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers with more than 21,000 citations, chaired the ECDC’s H5N1 vaccine advisory group, and sat on SAGE during both the 2009 H1N1 and COVID-19 pandemics. From 2014 he chaired NERVTAG, the UK’s advisory group on emerging respiratory virus threats.

As Deputy Chief Medical Officer from 2017 to 2022, he became a household name for his role in the UK’s COVID-19 response and vaccine rollout. He was knighted for services to public health in 2022.