Neil Pearce is Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Since 1985, he has been engaged in a wide range of public health research activities including, co-founding the Wellington Asthma Research group at the Wellington School of Medicine and establishing the Massey University Centre for Public Health Research. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) and Past-President of the International Epidemiological Association (IEA).