Professor Matt Ashton

Professor Matt Ashton is the Director of Public Health for Liverpool City Council and as the Lead DPH for Food Active provides strategic insight and guidance on the direction and programme.

Prof Ashton was appointed Director of Public Health for Liverpool City Council in April 2020 in a joint appointment with the University of Liverpool, where he is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Public Health and Policy.

He leads a team of over 50 people in the local authority, covering a range of public health activities including the commissioning of public health services, health protection, health improvement, health care public health, embedding health in all policies approaches and addressing the wider determinants of health.

Matt is passionate about bringing together the best people and partnerships in the region to improve health and wellbeing and reduce inequalities in the communities we serve, and works closely with other directors of public health across Cheshire and Merseyside, as part of the CHAMPS public health collaborative, where he is the current vice chair of the Collaborative, leading on Strategic Intelligence and Research, Communications, Social Marketing, and Strategic Partnerships.

Matt is also the chair of the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) policy advisory group on healthy places, as well as being the chair of the Faculty of Public Health special interest group for health improvement.  Matt is also the lead Director of Public Health for the Liverpool City Region Violence Reduction Partnership.