Sir David Skegg | |
---|---|
Born | David Christopher Graham Skegg 16 December 1947 Auckland, New Zealand |
Education | University of Otago University of Oxford |
Alma mater | Balliol College |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Epidemiology |
Institutions | University of Otago |
Doctoral students | Lianne Parkin |
Sir David Christopher Graham Skegg KNZM OBE FRSNZ (born 16 December 1947) is a New Zealand epidemiologist and university administrator. He is an emeritus professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago. He was the vice-chancellor of the university from 2004 to 2011 and president of the Royal Society of New Zealand from 2012 to 2015. [1] His primary research interest is cancer epidemiology. [2] [3] [4]
Skegg was born in Auckland and attended King's College, Auckland. He entered the medical course at the University of Otago, travelling on exchange to Harvard University. He later received a (postgraduate) Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, joining Balliol College and working with noted epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll. [2] [5]
Returning to Otago, Skegg took up the departmental chair in Preventive and Social Medicine in 1980. He was the vice-chancellor of the university from 2004 to 2011. He was president of the Royal Society of New Zealand from July 2012 [6] to 2015.
Skegg has acted as a consultant to the World Health Organization and to the New Zealand Government. He chaired the Health Research Council, the Science Board, and the Public Health Commission. [7] In the 1991 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to medicine, [8] and in the 2009 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to medicine. [9] Later in 2009, he accepted re-designation as a Knight Companion following the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand Government. [10] He has contributed to the study of cervical, breast and prostate cancer, as well as contraceptives and reproductive health. [11]
Skegg is also the leader of the Strategic Covid-19 Public Health Advisory Group, which has advised the New Zealand Government on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. In that capacity, he has advocated an eliminationist approach to containing the pandemic. [12] Under his leadership, the Committee advocated a phased approach towards reopening the country's borders, easing managed isolation requirements for certain travellers, and introducing pre-departure and rapid testing for travellers exiting and entering the country. [13] [14]
Notable doctoral students of Skegg's include Lianne Parkin. [15]
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