Alan Maryon-Davis


Alan Maryon-Davis, is a doctor, writer/broadcaster and member of the humorous cabaret group Instant Sunshine.
He was born in Chiswick, West London, and was educated at St Paul's School, London, St John's College, Cambridge and St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, King's College London.

Medical career

Following an early career in hospital medicine and general practice, he transferred to the field of public health with a focus on health promotion and prevention. He was Head of Health Sciences at the Health Education Council and a member of various UK Department of Health committees and task-forces on nutrition, physical activity, cancer prevention, accident prevention, and health partnerships. In the mid-1980s he founded the National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Prevention and the Welsh heart disease prevention programme Heart Beat Wales.
In 1988, he switched to working at local level as a public health specialist in inner south London, most recently as Director of Public Health for Southwark. He is the former President of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Chair of the Royal Society for Public Health, Vice-Chair of the National Heart Forum, Councillor of the Royal College of Physicians, foundation fellow of the UK Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, and an honorary professor in public health at King's College London.

Media career

He has also been a prolific writer and broadcaster on health matters in a parallel career spanning over 30 years. His broadcasting began as the regular guest doctor on the London independent radio station LBC in the mid-1970s. He then became the BBC Radio 1 'doc' in a regular slot called Stayin' Alive with DJ David Jensen. In the 1980s he presented a number of series on health for BBC Radio 4 and was a co-presenter, with doctors Graeme Garden and Gillian Rice, of BBC1's popular medical series Bodymatters. He wrote a weekly 'Dear Dr Alan' Q&A column in Woman magazine for 17 years and has written ten books on various health subjects for the general reader.

Showbiz career

His third career has been as a member of the comedy singing group Instant Sunshine since its foundation in 1966.

Selected list of works