Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh is a distinguished leader in primary care research and public health informatics with a distinguished academic career spanning over a decade. He currently serves as the Nuffield Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences and Head of the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford, a position he assumed in August 2024 following his predecessor Professor Richard Hobbs CBE. Prior to this appointment, he held the prestigious roles of Chair of Primary Care Research and Development, Director of the Usher Institute, and Dean of Data at the University of Edinburgh, where he established himself as a transformative leader in health data science. His academic journey includes significant contributions to epidemiology and health informatics, with a focus on improving patient safety and healthcare delivery systems. His leadership during critical public health challenges has positioned him as a globally recognized expert in pandemic response and health data infrastructure.
Sir Aziz's groundbreaking work developing the EAVE surveillance platform during the COVID-19 pandemic represents one of the most comprehensive national-scale health data resources in the world, integrating GP records, vaccination data, testing results, hospitalization information, and mortality statistics for 99% of Scotland's population. This innovative system provided near real-time insights that directly informed public health policy and clinical decision-making throughout the pandemic, demonstrating exceptional value in crisis response. His research has produced over 350 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals including BMJ, Lancet, and Health Affairs, establishing him as a leading voice in understanding the interface between culture, health, and healthcare delivery. His expertise in medical error prevention and patient safety has led to advisory roles with the World Health Organization, where he chaired the Patient Safety in Primary Care Working Group, and informed policies for both Scottish and English governments.
Beyond his research achievements, Sir Aziz has been instrumental in building international collaborations and training the next generation of health informatics specialists, maintaining close connections with the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh while leading his new department at Oxford. His editorial leadership includes serving as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for Quality in Health Care and holding positions on the editorial boards of multiple prestigious publications including The Lancet Regional Health Europe and PLoS Medicine. Recognized for his exceptional contributions, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2014 for services to medicine and healthcare, and later knighted in 2022 specifically for his services to COVID-19 research and policy. His current work focuses on catalyzing the data-enabled transformation of health globally, building on his inaugural lecture at Oxford in April 2025, where he outlined a vision for leveraging health data to improve patient outcomes across diverse healthcare settings worldwide.
