Ibrahim Abubakar
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University of Cambridge
University of East Anglia
Ibrahim Ibrahim Abubakar is an epidemiologist who is Vice Provost (Health)[1] and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at University College London. He was Pro-Provost (Health)[2] and Dean of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences.[3][4][5]
He qualified in medicine in 1992 from Ahmadu Bello University and initially trained in general medicine before specialising in public health medicine.[6] He trained in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine graduating with an MSc in 1999, DPH from the University of Cambridge in 2000 and a PhD from the University of East Anglia in 2007.[7]
Work
He was director of the UCL Institute for Global Health until August 2021.[8] He previously served as head of TB at Public Health England.[9] Prior to his appointment at UCL, he was Professor in Health Protection at Norwich Medical School. In 2011, he was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) on tuberculosis[10] and in 2016 he was appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator.[11]
He was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020 in recognition of his research in infectious disease epidemiology and migration and health.[12] In 2025, he was elected member of the US National Academy of Medicine.[13]
He was the chair of the NIHR Global Professorship Selection Committee,[14] and currently chairs the NIHR Senior Investigator Medical and Dental Sub-Committee [15] and the Lancet Migration Initiative.[16] He was an Advisory Board member of the Public Health Board of Open Society Foundation[17] and of the MRC Applied Global Health Board.[18] He is also on the Editorial Board of BMC Medicine.[19]
He is a member of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board.[20] and was a non-executive member of the North Central London Integrated Care Board [21] until 2025.
He served as the chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG TB) from 2016 to 2019[22] and co-chaired the NICE TB guidelines development group,[23] and was a board member, Africa Research Excellence Fund.[24]
In 2023, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation awarded Professor Abubaker the Roux Prize for his dedication to improving health outcomes over the prior three decades.[25]
