CUANZ hosts Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield

The Cambridge University Australia New Zealand Society (CUANZ) will host Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield for their next event on the evening of May 22nd.

Schedule for the evening

7.30-8.30pm: Short address from Sir Ashley, fireside chat, and audience Q&A at the St John's Old Divinity School Main Lecture theatre. Please arrive at 7.10pm for a prompt start.

8.30pm- : Networking drinks at the Keynes Library of the Cambridge Union. There will be a cash bar and opportunities to chat with CUANZ members, public health ECRs, and Sir Ashley.

The sign-up will be available for CUANZ members first, but we are also advertising to Cambridge Public Health and encourage you to share the event with your friends in medicine or related fields who would appreciate hearing from Sir Ashley.

Professor Sir Ashley Bloomfield, previous Director-General of Health for New Zealand

Sir Ashley is a familiar figure to most New Zealanders after leading the country through the COVID-19 pandemic, delivering a daily televised address to the nation on the state of the pandemic. Prior to serving as Director-General of Health, Sir Ashley graduated from medical school at the University of Auckland in 1990 and later trained as an epidemiologist, obtaining a Masters of Public Health also from the University of Auckland. Sir Ashley joined the New Zealand Ministry of Health in 1997 and was heavily involved in improving tobacco control, primary health care policy, disability support, and establishing the social determinants of health in tertiary clinical education. This led him to work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on a range of global health topics from 2005, and he spent 2011 in Geneva working with the WHO.

We will hear from Sir Ashley about his journey in health leadership, stepping into the Chief Executive role of the Hutt Valley District Health Board (2015-2018) and later the Director-General of Health (2018-2022). Sir Ashley was a key contributor to New Zealand’s response during the COVID-19 pandemic, recognised as one of the best worldwide, and he was appointed as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2023 New Year's Honours for his work.

Sir Ashley is now continuing to work with the WHO, co-chairing a negotiation on updating the International Health Regulations. He will be travelling to Geneva in May, with a pit-stop in Cambridge on the 22nd.