Professor Russell Rothman will take up the prestigious one-year appointment from September 2026 and will also be a Professorial Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.
The George Eastman Visiting Professorship was established in 1929 by George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, and is awarded annually to a senior scholar of the highest distinction from the United States. Previous holders have included Nobel laureates and internationally recognised academic leaders across science, medicine, and public life.
Professor Rothman is Professor of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Health Policy, Ingram Professor of Integrative and Population Health, and Senior Vice President for Population and Public Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is also Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Population and Public Health and Associate Dean for Population Health Sciences at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Internationally recognised for his work in patient-centred outcomes research, comparative clinical effectiveness research, health communication and health services research, Professor Rothman has led major programmes to improve care and outcomes for people with long-term conditions. He is Principal Investigator of the STAR (Stakeholders, Technology and Research) Clinical Research Network, based at Vanderbilt Health which has supported more than 100 funded studies focused on improving health outcomes in areas including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, COVID-19, and vasculitis.
Professor Rothman has also held senior leadership roles with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and currently chairs the PCORnet Executive Steering Committee, overseeing a national research network representing more than 75 health systems.
During his time in Oxford, Professor Rothman will work with colleagues in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and across the University to advance research in primary care, population health, pragmatic clinical trials, digital health, and the use of large-scale health data. One of his goals is to help develop a global primary care research consortium led by Oxford and Vanderbilt Health, bringing together primary care research communities from around the world.
Professor Rothman said:
‘I am tremendously honored and excited to receive the George Eastman Visiting Professorship at Oxford. This will be a great opportunity to collaborate with the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and across the Division and the University to expand research on primary care and how to improve health for people and their families.’
Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh, Head of the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, said:
‘It is a real pleasure that Professor Russell Rothman will be joining us as George Eastman Visiting Professor. His internationally recognised work in population health, patient-centred research and pragmatic approaches to improving care aligns closely with our Department’s mission to generate evidence that strengthens primary health care and improves health outcomes. We look forward to the opportunities this appointment will create for collaboration across Oxford, Vanderbilt and the wider global primary health care research community.’
Professor Rothman’s appointment comes at a time of growing international attention on the pressures facing health systems and the need for stronger evidence to support prevention, earlier intervention and better management of chronic diseases. His Visiting Professorship will provide opportunities to build new collaborations between Oxford, Vanderbilt and partners internationally, with a focus on research that can improve health and care for individuals, families and populations.