Prof Ahmed is a distinguished public health physician, epidemiologist, and global health diplomat with over three decades of experience spanning clinical medicine, academia, and public health policy and practice in both low- and high-income countries.
Prof Ahmed is currently the DHSC and NHSE Regional Director of Public Health for East of England. As the DHSC & NHSE Regional Director of Public Health for the East of England, he has strategic responsibility of working collaboratively with a network of NHS hospitals, local authorities, and universities to address public health challenges and improve health outcomes across the region. Prof Ahmed provides strategic leadership, guidance, and oversight on public health initiatives. He also provides critical strategic input on national and regional public health priorities, including local and regional healthcare needs. He is passionate about health equity for all of society – and works through collaborative partnerships to facilitate, coordinate, optimise the use of AI and genomics in improving population health outcomes.
Through his extensive working experiences with over 30 different health systems worldwide, Prof Ahmed has developed substantial expertise in global health diplomacy. He founded and led the Public Health Africa Policy Forum at Chatham House, London, where he convened expert dialogues and advises African heads of state and ministers on public health policy. He was also part of the Chatham House Commission for Universal Health, which produced an influential publication on global health policy on UHC. As a global health diplomat, he has led and contributed to bilateral health initiatives involving the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Public Health England, and international organizations such as the World Health Organization.
Prof Ahmed earned his primary medical degree from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, in 1992, and pursued postgraduate trainings in public health medicine and infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Cambridge, and the Cambridgeshire Postgraduate Deanery in the UK.
