Virginia Berridge, (born 1946) is a British academic historian and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

expert. She is a Professor of History and Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...

. Berridge is a Fellow of the

Academy of Social Sciences The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS) is a representative body for social sciences in the United Kingdom. The academy promotes social science through its sponsorship of the Campaign for Social Science, its links with Government on a variety of m ...

and the Royal Historical Society, and honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of Physicians.

Life

Berridge has a first degree and a PhD in history, both from the University of London, and is a Professor of History and Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the

. She worked in the Addiction Research Unit of the

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a centre for mental health and neuroscience research, education and training in Europe. It is dedicated to understanding, preventing and treating mental illness, neurological co ...

from 1974 to 1979 and at the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

from 1986–1987. From 1979 to 88 she was at the

Institute of Historical Research The Institute of Historical Research (IHR) is a British educational organisation providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is part of the School of Advanced Study in the University of London and is located at Senate Hou ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Berridge is an academic historian and

expert. She researches the history of health and health policy. Recently she has published on the harm of e-cigarrettes and the policies around their availability and use. She is Deputy Chair of the London Drugs Commission, which is reporting on cannabis use for the London Mayor, and has served on the Alcohol Education Research Council. Alongside Dr Alastair Reid (

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

), Professor Simon Szreter, (St John’s College, Cambridge), and Professor Pat Thane (King’s College London), Berridge is a founder of History & Policy, which publishes historical research freely online. Berridge is a Fellow of the

, a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

and honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of Physicians.

Selected works

* ''Opium and the People: Opiate Use in Nineteenth-Century England'' (1987) * ''AIDS in the UK: The Making of Policy, 1981–1994'' (1996) * ''Marketing health: Smoking and the discourse of public health, 1945–2000'' (2007) * ''Demons: Our Changing Attitudes to Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs'' (2014) * ''Public Health: A Very Short Introduction'' (2016) * ''The Internationalisation of Tobacco Control, 1950-2010'' (2016) * ''Infiltrating history into the public health curriculum'' (2018)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berridge, Virginia 1946 births British women historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Honorary Fellows of the Faculty of Public Health Honorary Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences Living people 20th-century British historians 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British historians 21st-century British women writers