Professor Harish Nair is Chair of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Global Health and leads the Respiratory Viral Epidemiology research programme at the University of Edinburgh. He has led several large collaborative projects on global child health and infectious diseases. He currently leads (and is the co-ordinator of) the REspiratory Syncytial virus Consortium in EUrope (RESCEU) (www.resc-eu.org) and the Respiratory Virus Global Epidemiology Network (RSV GEN). He also leads the Infectious Diseases Research Programme in the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health (RESPIRE) (https://www.ed.ac.uk/usher/respire). He is a co-founder of ReSViNET (www.resvinet.org). In 2019, Professor Nair was awarded the Principal’s Medal for Exceptional Service by the University of Edinburgh; and the Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) Award by the NRI Society of India. 

MBBS, DCH, MSc, PhD, FRCPE, FFPH, FHEA

Prof Nair is both medically and scientifically trained (MBBS from Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi in India and PhD from University of Edinburgh). 

Professor Nair’s research focuses on child pneumonia. He has received over £49 million (£45 million as PI / Work Package Leader) in grant funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, NIHR, World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Sanofi Pasteur.

He has led studies that reported the first and most widely cited disease burden estimates for RSV, influenza and human metapneumovirus related child pneumonia. The updated current estimates are regarded as the most comprehensive and respected in the field. Apart from his main interest in child pneumonia epidemiology, he has a strong interest in refugee health and gender inequities in child health and has contributed to internationally leading research on neonatal health, maternal health and health sector reforms.

Undergraduate teaching

Professor Nair is involved in supervision of 4-6 MBChB Student Selected Component (SSC) year 5 projects each year. He also supervises 1-2 MBChB students doing an intercalated (BMedSci) degree in Epidemiology and Global Health. Students are generally offered projects that are part of the large research programme that he leads. He generally encourages all his students to take their work to publication and to date over 50 of the student projects have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals including Lancet journals. He also encourages and facilitates his students to do an internship with WHO. Previous students have found these opportunities to be very exciting and have managed to publish manuscripts based on their work at WHO.

Postgraduate teaching

Professor Nair leads the elective course “Epidemiology for Public Health” within the Master of Public Health (MPH) programme. He also lectures on the “Global Health Epidemiology” elective. He supervises (on an average) 2 MPH student dissertations every year.

Professor Nair has supervised 6 PhD students who have successfully defended their PhDs on Respiratory Viral Infections (4 students), Gender Inequity in Child Health (1 student) and Refugee Health (1 student). He is currently supervising 8 PhD students in Edinburgh on various topics related to his research interests and co-supervising 1 PhD student project outwith Edinburgh. 

https://www.ed.ac.uk/usher/respiratory-viral-epidemiology