Associate Professor Mary Codd elected ASPHER President
We are delighted to announce that Associate Professor Mary Codd has been elected as President-elect of ASPHER, The Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region. Professor Codd will assume the position of ASPHER Vice-president (President-elect) for the 2025-2026 term followed by President for the 2026-2028 term. This is the first time that a President has been elected from an Irish member School of Public Health.
Professor Codd is Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, and Director of the UCD Master of Public Health (MPH) Programme and the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master of Public Health Degree (Europubhealth) at UCD. Her professional experience spans the implementation of the first population-based cancer screening programme in Ireland leading to the development of the Irish National Breast Screening Programme, Breastcheck, to establishing and directing the UCD Specialised Contact Tracing Centre during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ASPHER is the key independent European organisation dedicated to improving and protecting the public health by strengthening education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research. It is a membership organisation of Schools and Institutes of Public Health across Europe. Founded in 1966, ASPHER currently has over 134 members in 43 countries of the WHO European Region.
UCD has a long association with ASPHER and Professor Codd has served on its Executive Board since 2019. She has been a member of many significant ASPHER projects including leading the development, with ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), of updated Core Competencies in Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology in 2022, and the pan-European ASPHER Core Curriculum for Public Health launched at the European Public Health Conference in November 2024.
As President, Professor Codd will maintain and enhance ASPHER’s functions and objectives, and will focus, in particular, on: the impact of social media on children and young people; the challenges of healthy ageing and long-term care for older members of society; and the continued development of curricula and competencies for public health professionals. Following the election at the recent General Assembly of ASPHER, current President, Professor Henrique Barros, said “We warmly congratulate Professor Mary Codd and look forward to her continued contributions to ASPHER’s mission and values”. Professor Cecily Kelleher, UCD College of Health and Agricultural Sciences Principal, noted that the prestigious appointment is “the culmination of many years of fruitful engagement between UCD and ASPHER” indicating that “the curriculum reforms spearheaded by Professor Codd will have a lasting influence on the New Public Health”. Associate Professor and Head of the UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, James Matthews, congratulated Professor Co saying that “this is an important and significant achievement that reinforces the School’s position as one of the leaders in Europe in supporting ASPHER’s mission to strengthen the education and training of Public Health professionals for practice and research”.
8th July 2025