Andy Haines was formerly a family doctor and Professor of Primary Health Care at UCL. He developed an interest in climate change and health in the 1990’s and was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for the 2nd and 3rd assessment exercises and review editor for the health chapter in the 5th assessment.
He was Director (formerly Dean) of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2001 - October 2010. He chaired the Scientific Advisory Panel for the 2013 WHO World Health Report, the Rockefeller /Lancet Commission on Planetary Health (2014-15)and the European Academies Science Advisory Council working group on climate change and health (2018-19). He currently co-chairs the InterAcademy Partnership (140 science academies worldwide) working group on climate change and health and is also co-chairing the Lancet Pathfinder Commission on health in the zero-carbon economy. He is co-Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Climate Change, Health and Sustainable Development. He has published many papers on topics such as the effects of environmental change on health and the health co-benefits of low carbon policies.
His current research focuses on climate change mitigation, sustainable healthy food systems and complex urban systems for sustainability.He was awarded the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2022.