Dame Carol Black is a physician and academic, specialising in rheumatology, and between 2002 and 2006 was President of the Royal College of Physicians. She was Principal of Newham College, Cambridge from 2012 to 2019.

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Dame Carol has extensive experience of advising on national policy, and led an independent review of drugs for the previous UK Government, whose final report was published in 2021 and which recommended a harm-reduction approach across Whitehall departments and other organisations to improve drug prevention and treatment. 

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Her other independent reviews for the UK Government were of the health of the working-age population; on the impact on the economy and health outcomes of sickness absence among working-age adults; and of outcomes of addiction to drugs or alcohol, or obesity, for employment.

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She has a strong commitment to the ‘What Works’ approach and is also Chair of the Centre for Ageing Better, which tackles inequalities in ageing. Her other roles include that of Chair of the British Library.

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