Dr. Alastair Ager

Biography

Alastair Ager holds academic appointments as the Director of the Institute of Global Health Development at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and as a Professor in the Department of Population and Family Health at Columbia University. He served as the Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser for the UK Department for International Development from 2017 to 2020. With over thirty years of experience in global health development, Ager has a background in psychology from Keele University and the University of Birmingham. He previously led the Department of Psychology at the University of Malawi and directed the Centre for International Health Studies at Queen Margaret. His consultancy work spans sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America, collaborating with organizations such as UNICEF, UNHCR, Oxfam, and Save the Children. He has authored hundreds of scholarly publications and is actively involved in health systems strengthening, humanitarian programming evaluation, and engaging local faith communities in humanitarian responses. He was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March 2019.

Research Interests