Rate My Professor David Skegg

Sir David Skegg KNZM OBE is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine. He holds the degrees BMedSc and MB ChB from the University of Otago, DPhil from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, HonLLD from Otago, and HonDSc from Queen’s University, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine (FFPHM), Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (FAFPHM), and Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ). Returning to Dunedin at age 32, he served as Chair and Professor of Preventive and Social Medicine from 1980 to 2004. Subsequently, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Otago from 2004 to 2011 and President of the Royal Society of New Zealand from 2012 to 2015.

Skegg's research specializations encompass cancer epidemiology including breast cancer, cervical cancer, and cancer screening; pharmacoepidemiology; contraceptive and drug safety; sexual and reproductive health; public health policy; and pandemic control strategies. He established the HIV Epidemiology Group at the University of Otago. Key appointments include Chair of the World Health Organization’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Group, Department of Reproductive Health and Research (2011–2016); Special Adviser to the New Zealand Parliament’s COVID-19 Epidemic Response Committee (2020); Chair of the Strategic COVID-19 Public Health Advisory Group (2021–2022); member of the New Zealand Government’s University Advisory Group (2024–2025); and participant in the International Science Council’s working group on future COVID-19 scenarios (2020–2023). Notable publications are “Future scenarios for the COVID-19 pandemic” (The Lancet, 2021), “Defining covid-19 elimination” (BMJ, 2021), “Vaccine mandates in the time of Omicron” (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2022), “The COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons for our future” (Policy Quarterly, 2021), and “Unwarranted optimism about vaccine efficacy” (BMJ, 2020). He received the Blake Medal in 2022 for leadership in health and epidemiology.