New Director of Clinical and Protecting Health at Public Health Scotland

Dr Diane Stockon will today start in her new role as Director of Clinical and Protecting Health at Public Health Scotland (PHS).

Paul Johnston, Chief Executive at PHS said: “Diane brings extensive experience to the role, having worked with PHS and its predecessor organisations for many years.  She has worked across the range of public health functions, making her well-positioned to drive forward the organisation’s mission of improving health and reducing health inequalities in Scotland."

In her most recent role as Head of Clinical, Health Intelligence and Research at PHS, Diane provided scientific leadership around prevention, health improvement, healthcare public health and research. She was the Equity and Justice lead for PHS, co-directing the Scottish Prevention Hub with Police Scotland and University of Edinburgh. This role required taking a whole-system, public health approach, focused on primary prevention for children and young people to support the reduction of health and wellbeing inequalities in Scotland.

Other national roles have included Director of Public Health Sciences in NHS Health Scotland, covering public health surveillance, evidence and evaluation aimed at improving health and reducing health inequalities, co-lead (and co-founder) of the Scottish Public Health Observatory and principal investigator for the Scottish Burden of Disease Study.  

Diane has a PhD in Epidemiology and qualified as a Specialist in Public Health in 2007. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Diane led the Scottish Public Health response for children and young people (with a particular focus on education) and the national COVID-19 vaccine surveillance programme. She has a wide range of research interests, contributing to over 100 scientific publications.

Speaking on her appointment, Diane said: “I am delighted to be taking up this role, collaboratively leading work with local and national colleagues to improve and protect the health of everyone in Scotland.”