Sandro Demaio

Dr Sandro Demaio is the CEO of VicHealth, a medical doctor and a globally-renowned public health expert and advocate. He previously held the roles of Medical Officer for non-communicable conditions and nutrition at the World Health Organization, and CEO of the EAT Foundation; the science-based, global platform for food systems transformation where he oversaw the global launch of the EAT-Lancet Commission. Sandro is a member of the Nutrition Strategy Advisory Board, for Pictet Group in Switzerland.

In his pro bono work, Dr Demaio co-founded NCDFREE, a global social movement against chronic disease which reached more than 2.5 million young people in its first 18 months. In 2015, he founded festival21, assembling and leading a team of experts in staging an unprecedented free celebration of community, food, culture and the SDGs in his hometown of Melbourne. Then in 2018, he established an independent, not-for-profit foundation focused on improving the health and nutrition of young Australians.

He has published more than forty scientific papers and 110 articles. He also authored the Doctor’s Diet, a cookbook based on science and inspired by a love of good food.

From 2017 to 2019, Sandro co-hosted the ABC and Netflix television show Ask the Doctor – an innovative and exploratory factual medical series broadcasting across Australia and around the world.

Dr Demaio originally trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He holds a Masters degree in public health, a PhD in non-communicable diseases and has held fellowships at Harvard Medical School, Copenhagen School of Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Melbourne.

He's at home in the kitchen, or when sharing good food with close friends and family.