Peter C. Smith is Professor of Health Policy, and is co-director of the Centre for Health Policy in the Institute of Global Health Innovation. He is a mathematics graduate from the University of Oxford, and started his academic career in the public health department at the University of Cambridge. He has worked and published in a number of disciplinary settings, including statistics, operational research and accountancy. However, his main work has been in the economics of health and the broader public services, most recently as the Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York. Peter has acted in numerous governmental advisory capacities, has been a board member of the Audit Commission, and is currently a member of the NHS Cooperation and Competition Panel. He has also advised many overseas governments and international agencies, including the World Health Organization, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Current research interests include: health system performance assessment, with a particular focus on international comparison (currently involved with studies for the World Health Organization, the European Commission and the Economic and Social Research Council); economic aspects of the social determinants of health (studies for the World Health Organization and the Department of Health); measuring and improving health system productivity; and health care payment mechanisms. He has published widely on these and related topics, including over 100 peer-reviewed journal papers and ten books.