Professor Derek Ward is the Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire County Council, and is currently covering the same role in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire Councils. He is also a visiting Professor of Public Health at the University of Lincoln. Derek is the Public Health Clinical Research lead within the East Midlands Clinical Research Network (part of the NIHR) and has been on the board of trustees for of the Royal Society of Public Health and a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) public health advisory committee. Prior to his current roles he held a dual role within academia and the NHS. He was Director of the Health and Social Care Research Centre and a Professor of Public Health at the University of Derby and provided professional public health advice into the 4 Clinical Commissioning Groups across Derbyshire. Prior to taking up this joint role, he was Director of Public Health for Derby City for 5 years, firstly as an Executive Director within NHS Derby City Primary Care Trust and then latterly as a Chief Officer of Derby City Council. He also has significant experience of national and regional policy work, having been a Consultant in Public Health and a Senior Civil Servant in the Department of Health (DH).