Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam MBE
Responsibilities
Professor Van-Tam took up office as Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences on 1st May 2022 upon returning from secondment as Deputy Chief Medical Officer, England.
As PVC for Medicine and Health Sciences, John has executive responsibility for the Faculty and is a member of the University Executive Board. The Faculty spans the Schools of Veterinary Medicine and Sciences, Life Sciences, Health Sciences, and Medicine.
Profile
Prof. Van-Tam trained as a physician in Nottingham, graduating in 1987. After post-graduate training in general and emergency medicine, anaesthesia and infectious diseases, he specialised in academic public health, joining the University of Nottingham for the first time in 1991. He left in 2000 and gained experience in the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries as well as the UK Health Protection Agency. He returned to Nottingham as Clinical Professor of Health Protection in 2007 but was seconded to the Department of Health and Social Care from 2017-2022.
Outside of his university responsibilities, Prof. Van-Tam will have an Honorary Consultant contract with the UK Health Security Agency, some short-term continuing commitments to the UK Vaccines Task Force and longer-term commitments to the UK Reserve Forces. He is also a Non-Executive Director of NHS Lincolnshire’s Integrated Care Board.
Teaching and Research Summary
Prof Van-Tam is a global expert on the prevention and control of respiratory virus diseases, pandemic preparedness and response, and public health policy for vaccines and antiviral drugs.
He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers. He is a renowned public communicator and inspirational teacher and has given numerous prestigious lectures including the Harveian Oration and the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, 2021.
He was awarded Healthcare Communicator of the Year in 2021 at the Communique awards and has received a Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award for 2021-2022.
He is proud of his Vietnamese origins and is Honorary Chair of the Vietnamese Intellectual Society of UK and Ireland. He has been awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society for Public Health, both for outstanding contributions to public health; and was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2021.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1998 New Year Honours and awarded a Knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List for services to Public Health.