Dr. Giri Shankar, Director of Health Protection, Public Health Wales.
Dr. Giri Shankar, MD, DNB, MPH, FFPH, MBE, is the Director of Health Protection at Public Health Wales, UK. Public Health Wales is the national public health institute of Wales.
The Health Protection Division works in partnership with stakeholders to protect individuals and communities from harm caused by infectious and non-infectious hazards. It also provides effective response to emergencies through sound planning and preparedness with other Category 1 and Category 2 responders as defined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, including first responders, local authorities, environmental and port health authorities, health boards and other agencies in Wales and with partners across the UK.
Dr. Shankar is responsible for the delivery of Health Protection services across Wales. He provides leadership to a team of 230+ staff within the Division.
Dr. Shankar has 27 years of experience in the field of communicable disease control and public health. He obtained his undergraduate medical degree (MBBS) from Bangalore University, India followed by MD in Community Medicine (with distinction – First Rank), Diplomate of the National Board (DNB) in Social & Preventive Medicine. He then moved to the United Kingdom and obtained further higher specialist training in Public Health by completing a Master’s programme at Birmingham University.
Dr. Shankar has been awarded the Fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health of the Royal College of Physicians.
Dr. Shankar is the Chair for the IANPHI Thematic Committee on Climate Change & Public Health.
Dr. Shankar’s special interests are in research and evaluation, where he has published a number of scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
