Dr Sakthi Karunanithi has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science at Lancaster University’s graduation ceremonies this July.

Dr Karunanithi, the Director of Public Health at Lancashire County Council, has been at the forefront of the local response to Covid-19. During the pandemic, he chaired the Lancashire Resilience Forum, a joint intelligence and planning group which supported the management of Covid-19 across the region. He also became a regular reassuring presence on local and national media during this time.

Dr Karunanithi has a demonstrable history of working in the NHS, local government, and industry with his breadth of knowledge feeding into programmes aimed at improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities by promoting wellbeing and fitness, disease prevention and improving quality of life in the UK population.