Allyson Pollock is professor of public health research and policy at Queen Mary, University of London. She set up and directed the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh from 2005 to 2011, and prior to that she was Head of the Public Health Policy Unit at UCL and Director of Research & Development at UCL Hospitals NHS Trust. She is the author of NHS plc and co-author of The New NHS: A Guide. She writes regularly in the Guardian as well as many professional publications. Website: http://www.allysonpollock.com/