Leading public health expert appointed to Wellcome Trust Board of Governors

Professor Johnson is currently co-Director of the Institute for Global Health at University College London where she was formerly Director of the Division of Population Health. After training in medicine at the University of Cambridge and Newcastle University, she specialised in epidemiology and public health, and has had a clinical research career spanning over 20 years.

Best known for her work on the epidemiology and prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, Professor Johnson was the principal investigator on the first National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) funded by the Wellcome Trust in 1990, and on subsequent NATSAL surveys in 2000 and 2010. These surveys have been extremely important in understanding the modes of transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Professor Johnson's outstanding contributions to clinical research have been recognised by her appointment as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners and of the Faculty of Public Health.

Her current research portfolio involves collaborations with colleagues in Europe, Africa and China, including international HIV cohort studies, behavioural intervention studies and a community study of the epidemiological and immunological determinants of seasonal and pandemic influenza transmission (Fluwatch).

Chairman of the Wellcome Trust, Sir William Castell, said of the appointment: "I am delighted that Anne Johnson has agreed to join the Board of Governors at the Wellcome Trust. She brings a wealth of experience in population health research and expertise on infectious disease."

Professor Johnson said: "I am honoured to be invited to join the Board of Governors and look forward very much to serving in this exciting role at the Wellcome Trust."