Professor Virginia Berridge

Co-Founder

Virginia Berridge is Professor of History and Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Virginia is an expert on the history of post-Second World War public health policy and in particular: smoking, illicit drugs and alcohol, the role of the media and the relationship between science and policy. Her most recent book is Marketing health. Smoking and the discourse of public health, 1945-c.2000 (Oxford University Press, 2007).

Virginia and her team have a long pedigree of delivering policy-relevant research. They have an ongoing programme of public engagement funded by the Wellcome Trust and hold regular events that bring together historians, scientists and health policymakers.

Virginia is regularly consulted by policymakers and has been involved in many initiatives on drugs and alcohol policy. The Department of Health recently appointed her to the Alcohol Education Research Council.

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