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Biography
Devi Sridhar, 32, jokes that she won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford by going to a Barnes & Noble bookshop and reading the Idiot's Guides to world conflicts and philosophy-"a great basic education." Now professor and chair in global public health at Edinburgh University, she had in fact graduated from university in Miami at 18 (having been born and brought up there), so it's unlikely that the Idiot's Guides were needed. At Oxford she was first a research fellow at All Souls College then associate professor from 2007 to 2012, and her research has focused on the governance and financing of global health. Her latest book, Governing Global Health , was co-written with Chelsea Clinton and is published this week by Oxford University Press.
What was your earliest ambition?
To be a professional tennis player and win the Miami Open.
Who has been your biggest inspiration?
My grandmother. She raised her kids and then in her 60s finished a PhD, wrote several books, and even joined me for part of my fieldwork in the slums of New Delhi. She's now almost 90 and is active as a writer for a local magazine.
What was the worst mistake in your career?
I try to see my mistakes as learning lessons. Early in my...