Emeritus Professor of Public Health

Academic Qualifications: NUI Galway (M.B., B.Ch. B.A.O. 1982, M.Med.Sci. 1988, M.D. 1992; University of London (M.Sc. Epidemiology 1990, Ph.D. Epidemiology 1995). 

Professional Qualifications: Member Royal College of Physicians (UK) 1986; Member Faculty of Public Health, UK 1994. 

Affiliations: Fellow Royal College of Physicians, UK (FRCP); Fellow Royal College of Physicians, Ireland (FRCPI); Fellow Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Ireland (FFPHMI); Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). 

Current Position: Emeretus Professor of Public Health, School of Public Health, University College Cork. 

Career summary: Ivan Perry was appointed Professor of Public Health in the newly established Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UCC in 1997. On his appointment, he was single-handed and over two decades he  led the development of a flourishing, multi-disciplinary academic public health centre with a 4–year undergraduate BSc in Public Health Sciences, Masters Programmes in Public Health and Occupational Health and doctoral programmes in epidemiology, health services research and applied public health research. In October 2017, he was appointed Dean of the newly established School of Public Health at University College Cork. The School of Public Health in UCC is now the largest dedicated academic centre for public health in the Republic of Ireland.

Research Profile: Professor Perry’s research interests have been primarily focused on chronic disease epidemiology and public health nutrition with a specific focus on cardiovascular disease (CVD), Type 2 Diabetes, self-harm and suicide.  He has also provided research leadership in Health Service Research with a focus on the management of diabetes and self-harm. The major focus of his current research activity is on public health nutrition with a particular focus on the development and implementation of science-based targets for healthy and sustainable diets in developed countries.

He has over 300 publications in peer reviewed journals, with over 32,000 citations (h-index of 86, i10-index 279,) and chapters in international textbooks of cardiology, hypertension and life-course epidemiology. He has successfully supervised 24 doctoral theses. He is ranked among the top 50 medical scientists in Ireland on Research.com

Professor Perry was Principal Investigator on the Irish Health Research Board (HRB) Centre for Health & Diet Research (HRB-CHDR) which was established in 2008 and was awarded a 5-year renewal of funding in 2014.  The HRB-CHDR was described by an international review panel as "flourishing" and the panel considered "the unique mix of people, backgrounds and skills to be a real strength and perhaps unique in Europe”. In his work as a nutritional epidemiologist and Principal Investigator of the HRB-CHDR, Professor Perry has drafted and contributed to significant national policy documents and research studies including the 2004 Food Safety Authority of Ireland Report-Salt and Health: Review of the Scientific Evidence and Recommendations for Public Policy in Ireland and A Healthy Weight for Ireland: Obesity Policy and Action Plan 2016 - 2025. He was Principal Investigator on the 2012 report on “The cost of overweight and obesity on the Island of Ireland" and the 2017 Lifetime Costs of Childhood Obesity on the Island of Ireland. The 2012 cost of obesity report, which is regarded as one of the most comprehensive studies of the direct health care and the indirect societal costs of obesity, was presented at an EU Council of Ministers meeting and it has substantially influenced the evolution of policy on overweight and obesity in Ireland.   

In 2000, with funding from the Department of Health, Professor Perry led on the establishment of Ireland's National Self Harm Registry, the first registry of its kind worldwide, which has achieved 100% coverage of hospitals in the Republic of Ireland. The Registry has been extended to Northern Ireland and it has been adopted by the WHO as a Global Template for self-harm surveillance. In 2007, he was a co-Principal Investigator and UCC lead on the first round of HRB funding for the ongoing PhD Scholar Programme in Population Health & Health Services Research (SPHeRE).

In 2019, he joined the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as visiting scientist on a short sabbatical from UCC. In April 2019 Professor Perry was elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA). In June 2022 he received a Research Career Achievement Award from University College Cork.