E33 - Dame Jennifer Dixon

Training in Public Health (TiPH)

We launch a special series in partnership with the Faculty of Public Health where we explore one key question - What is Public Health? It may seem like a simple question, but Public Health is no single thing. The aim of the series is to shine a light on the breadth of Public Health and the challenges ahead by talking to key figures in the field. This episode we sat down with Dame Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of The Health Foundation, an independent charity in the UK that works to improve health in the UK. Jennifer is a former paediatrician and a leading expert in health policy and research. She has been awarded a CBE and a DBE for her services to the NHS and public health. Before joining the Health Foundation in 2013, Dame Jennifer was director of policy at the Nuffield Trust, an independent health think tank. She also held senior policy positions at the Department of Health, the King’s Fund and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has published widely on health system performance, quality improvement, regulation and governance. She has held visiting professorships at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the London School of Economics, and Imperial College Business School. CHAPTERS (00:00) Teaser and Introduction (02:20) Day in the life of Jennifer Dixon (04:16) The Art of Public Health Policy (06:33) What is Public Health? (07:57) What attracted Jennifer to Public Health? (11:32) Reflecting on Public Health Training (15:54) Health Foundation Harkness Fellowships (20:19) What Public Health challenges are we not talking about enough (24:00) Major conditions work at the Health Foundation (29:28) Experience that changed Jennifer's career (32:00) Career tip for those training in Public Health