Key Note Speakers

Dr Deborah Cohen is an award winning medically qualified broadcaster, journalist and editor, who has worked across mainstream and academic print, digital, TV and radio. Having established the investigations unit at The BMJ, one of the world-leading medical and health policy journals, she specialises in complex investigations combing rigorous data analysis with journalism. Dr Cohen was recently Science Editor of ITV News and UK and Health Correspondent for BBC Newsnight leading their Covid-19 coverage. With several major investigations for BBC Panorama, Channel 4 Dispatches, ITV Tonight and BBC’s File on Four, Dr Cohen’s work has contributed to major changes in health policy and medical practice. It and has led to questions being asked in parliaments around the world. Dr Cohen is the author of Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health – published in January 2026 – which examines how the internet, commercial incentives and influencer culture are shaping our health. Her work has also garnered international media coverage and has been the basis of Netflix documentaries and global investigations. In addition to her experience working at the interface of the mainstream media and academia, Dr Cohen has substantial experience helping experts develop and present their work in a digestible and accessible way.

Calum is the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA), a secondment that began in August 2025.

He retains his roles as Professor of Outbreak Medicine and Child Health at the University of Liverpool and Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, albeit with reduced activity, during his appointment to the Scottish Government.

Raised in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Calum studied Cell Pathology, Immunology, and Virology for his Batchelor’s Tripos before completing a PhD in Clinical Virology at University College London and qualifying in Medicine at Oxford. A Department of Health National Clinician Scientist Fellowship held from 2002-06 enabled parallel clinical and academic training.

Calum has led research on HIV/AIDS, Bronchiolitis, Influenza, Ebola, Mpox, COVID-19 and Hepatitis, focusing on disease characterisation and clinical countermeasures. He co-founded the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) in 2012 and has received support from the Wellcome Trust, NIHR, and UKRI MRC. His leadership of therapeutic and discovery research in Sierra Leone during the Ebola crisis earned his team the Queen’s Ebola Medal and their work with survivors was recognised by a Commonwealth Association Award.

He has served in key advisory roles during public health emergencies, including the UK Government Pandemic Influenza Clinical Operations Sub-Group for the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic (PICO-SG 2009-10), WHO’s Scientific Technical Advisory Committee for the Ebola Emergency (STAC-EE 2014–17), New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threat Advisory Group (NERVTAG 2014–23) and UK Government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies for COVID-19 (SAGE 2020–22). He was appointed OBE in 2020 and elected Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health by Distinction in 2022.

Outside of work, Calum enjoys family time, walking his dogs, beekeeping, playing the pipes and fly fishing.

Gregor Smith is a GP. After 14 years working in a variety of operational and strategic leadership roles, he was appointed as Chief Medical Officer for Scotland in 2020. Gregor has been a co-author and co-developer of the renowned Realistic Medicine approach to care. His priorities include action on health inequalities, the climate emergency and healthcare sustainability through the development of a culture of stewardship. The need to develop values-based approaches that provide careful & kind care, reduce harm and waste, and foster innovation and improvement, lie at the heart of his professional philosophy. He was bestowed a knighthood in 2022 for services to public health and is Honorary Air Commodore to 612 squadron, RAF.