Professor Dame Sally Davies is Chief Medical Officer & Chief Scientific Advisor for the UK Department of Health and National Health Service. As Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally is the UK Government's principal medical advisor and the professional head of all medical staff in England. In addition, Professor Dame Sally develops the government strategy for health and social care research and is responsible for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Professor Dame Sally is a Board Member of the Office of the Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR) and chairs the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC). She led the UK delegation to the WHO Ministerial Summit in November 2004 and spoke on R&D at the World Health Assembly in May 2005, She is a Member of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) and former Chair of the Expert Advisory Committee for the development of the WHO’s research strategy, submitted as a resolution to the World Health Assembly 2009.

Additionally, Professor Dame Sally is a member of the International Advisory Committee for A*STAR (Singapore) and the Caribbean Health Research Council Board, and advises many other national and regional boards on research strategy and evaluation, including the Australian NHMRC.

Her own research interests focus on sickle cell disease. She was a member of the steering group for the Biotechnology Innovation and Growth Team, chaired by Sir David Cooksey and its “refresh” the Health Care Industry Task Force, and is a member of the UK Health Innovation Council.