Meet the Head of Department
Elias Mossialos is Brian Abel-Smith Professor in Health Policy, Head of Department in the Department of Health Policy, and founder and Director of LSE Health. A former minister of the state for the Greek government, Elias has a unique set of experiences in the health policy arena.
The BMJ has recently interviewed Professor Mossialos, and you can find the full text of the conversation here. Below you can find some excerpts from the interview. Follow Elias on Twitter @MOSSIALOS
What was your earliest ambition?
To study economics and politics. I ended up doing medicine first, but I eventually came back to them by combining my academic interests.
What was you best career move?
Apart from joining the LSE and Imperial, it was helping to establish the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, an organisation to bridge the gap between science and health policy in Europe.
What single change has made the most difference in your field?
The big data revolution. It poses social, ethical, policy, and medical challenges that, coupled with the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, are forcing us to find new ways of thinking about the future of medicine.
What personal ambition do you still have?
Three main ones: to continue to make a case for investing in stimulating R&D for antibiotics; to establish a fully funded Master's course for African policy-makers; and to continue to make the case for better medicines regulation.