Professor Dame Jenny Harries to deliver public health lecture

One of the UK’s leading experts in public health will deliver this year’s Haygarth Lecture.

Professor Dame Jenny Harries, who is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Chester, will explore the subject of Being Prepared for Future Health Hazards on Monday, November 14 at 6.30pm in Binks 011 at the University’s Exton Park site as well as online for those who can’t attend in person.

Professor Dame Harries was a familiar face on national television during the regular COVID-19 pandemic updates. She is the Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

UKHSA is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents and other health threats. UKHSA CEO Professor Dame Jenny Harries will discuss its work locally, nationally and globally to ensure the UK is prepared for threats like future pandemics.

Jenny previously served on the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and has a wealth of public health knowledge and expertise gained from working in the NHS and local government at local, regional and national levels. She played central roles in the UK’s response to COVID, Ebola, Zika, monkeypox, MERS and the Novichok attacks.

The Haygarth Public Lecture has been established to celebrate the long tradition of public health action in Cheshire and is named in honour of the 18th-century Physician, John Haygarth FRS (1740-1827), who practiced Medicine at Chester Infirmary and has been described as “Clinical Investigator – Apostle of Sanitation”.

The lecture is sponsored by the University’s Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences and the Faculty of Health and Social Care in conjunction with the Public Health Department at Cheshire West and Chester Council.