After a number of hospital appointments he trained in general practice with Dr Julian Tudor Hart in Glyncorrwg, Wales. He was a consultant in epidemiology in the Medical Research Council Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit between 1980–7 and Professor of Primary Health Care at University College London from 1987 to 2000. He worked part-time as an inner London General Practitioner between 1980 and 2000. Between 1993–6 he was on part-time secondment as Director of Research and Development at the NHS Executive North Thames where he had responsibility for a number of regional and national research programmes. At various times in his career he worked in Jamaica, Nepal, USA, Canada and on sabbatical at the World Health Organization in Geneva. Formerly a professor of primary health care at University College London, Sir Andrew was named Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2001. As Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine he had responsibility for academic leadership and management of the institution for nearly 10 years. The school is internationally recognised for its high quality postgraduate teaching and research. As a result of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise it was ranked 3rd in the country for the quality of its research output by the Times Higher Education out of more than 100 higher education institutions It is the largest institution of its kind in Europe with around 1400 staff. Annual income increased from £35m to over £100m during his term as Director. Under his leadership the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine received the 2009 Award for Global Health from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation worth $1m, for sustained commitment to improving the health of poor people, having been selected from 106 nominations worldwide by an international jury of experts. It was the first academic institution worldwide and the first UK institution to receive the award. He was responsible for setting up the London International Development Centre and for raising £3.7m from Higher Education Funding Council for England for this purpose. The Centre, a collaborative initiative between 5 colleges of the University of London now has 2,700 staff, student and alumni members from its constituent colleges. He has been a member of a number of major international and national committees including the MRC Global Health Group, the MRC Strategy Group and of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research. He was chair of a WHO Task Force on Health Systems Research in 2004 and a member of the Council of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War at the time of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. He was also a member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the second and third assessment reports and is review editor for the health chapter in fifth assessment report. He currently chairs the Tropical Health Education Trust, and the Research Strategy Committees of the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Marie Curie Cancer Care.
Research
His research interests are in epidemiology and health services research focussing particularly on research in primary care and the study of environmental influences on health, including the potential effects of climate change and the health co-benefits of the low carbon economy. Previous research included a number of randomised trials evaluating interventions to change patient and practitioner behaviour, notably a large trial of general practitioner intervention in patients with heavy alcohol consumption. He also chaired an international task force on climate change mitigation and public health which published a series of articles in the Lancet in 2009. As chair of an international task force on guidance for health systems policies he co-authored a series of articles on the challenges of assessing evidence for health systems policies and developing guidance for policymakers, published in 2012. His current research includes the study of the health co-benefits and economic impacts of low carbon policies in the transport, food and agriculture and housing sectors. He has co-authored around 300 scientific articles, book chapters and reports. He chairs the Lancet Commission on Planetary Health which has been set up to assess the potential implications for health of multiple interacting environmental changes affecting the Earth's 'essential life support systems' and will publish its findings in mid 2015.
