Professor Boyd Anthony Swinburn

Biography

Boyd Swinburn is Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health in the School of Population Health, University of Auckland. He trained as an endocrinologist but is now a public health physician and conducts research on community and policy actions to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity, and reduce, what he has coined, the ‘obesogenic’ food environment.

He is Co-Chair of World Obesity's Policy & Prevention section and Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on Obesity. He established the World Health Organisation's first Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, at Deakin University in Melbourne and has also contributed to over 30 WHO consultations and reports on obesity.  He leads an international network (INFORMAS) in over 30 countries to monitor and benchmark the healthiness of food environments and the implementation of food policies and actions to reduce obesity.

Research | Current

Key papers

Swinburn B, et al. Strengthening of accountability systems to create healthy food environments and reduce global obesity. The Lancet. 2015; 385(9986):2534-2545. View paper

Swinburn B et al. INFORMAS (International Network for Food and Obesity / non-communicable diseases Research., Monitoring and Action support): overview and key principles. Obes Rev. 2013; 14(S1):1-12. View paper

Swinburn BA et al. The global obesity pandemic: shaped by global drivers and local environments. The Lancet 2011; 378:804-814. View paper

Distinctions/Honours

Alfred Deakin Professor, Deakin University, 2009-2018

Patron and Honorary Fellow, Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, 2017-

George Salmond Oration, 206

Sax Oration, 2009

Founding director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University, 2003-2014

Responsibilities

Chair, Board of Research, School of Population Health, University of Auckland 2014-

World Obesity Federation, Policy & Prevention Section Co-chair 2009-

Lancet Commission on Obesity, Co-Chair, 2016-

Health Coalition Aotearoa, interim chair, 2018-

Areas of expertise

Research interests include: prevention of childhood obesity; community-based interventions and food polices to reduce obesity and non-communicable diseases; monitoring and accountability systems for improving the healthiness of food environments and reducing obesity.

Committees/Professional groups/Services

Royal Australasian College of Physicians Obesity Working Group, chair, 2016-2018

International Network for Food and Obesity/NCDs Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS), founder, 2013-

Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity, External Advisory Board for National Institutes of Health, Chair 2013-2017

Austalian Institute of Health and Welfare Obesity Expert Group, 2018-

Global Program Evaluation, Expert Advisory Committee, 2016-

Edgar Diabetes and Obesity Research Centre, Advisory Board, 2015-