Natasha Azzopardi Muscat has been elected incoming president of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) at a governing board meeting held in Glasgow.

Azzopardi Muscat, whose mandate will commence in November 2016, was elected to the post ahead of two other candidates from Spain and France.

She said she felt greatly honoured to take over from outgoing president Prof. Walter Ricciardi and current president Prof. McKee, who are giants on the European public health scene.

EUPHA is an umbrella organisation for public health associations and institutes in Europe.

Founded in 1992, EUPHA is an international multidisciplinary, scientific organisation, bringing together around 14,000 public health experts for professional exchange and collaboration throughout Europe.

Azzopardi Muscat graduated MD from the University of Malta in 1995 and later obtained an MSc in Public Health from the University of Malta and an MSc with distinction in Health Services Management from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She obtained her Membership of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine in 2003 and was subsequently elected to the Fellowship of the Faculty. Azzopardi Muscat joined the University of Malta in 1999.

Over the past 10 years, she has been involved in teaching and research in health services management and public health.

She was coordinator of the Health Services Management Division between 2000 and 2007. In July 2007, she was appointed director general (Strategy and Sustainability) within the government service.

She was president of the Malta Association of Public Health Medicine between 2006 and 2007 and has been president of the EUPHA section on policy and practice since 2006. In 2008 she was also nominated to the editorial board of the European Journal of Public Health.

Her main research interests are European health policy and evidence-based reform in European health systems.