Stephen Leeder

Stephen Leeder AO FRSN FAAHMS (born 13 December 1941) is an emeritus professor of public health and community medicine at the University of Sydney, where he was dean of medicine from 1997 to 2002. Leeder is an adjunct professor of public health at the Western Sydney University, an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York. He held the position as chair of the Western Sydney Local Health District Board from 2011–2016.

Leeder was editor-in-chief of The Medical Journal of Australia until he was fired in 2015 for criticising the decision of management to outsource its production to Elsevier. On 1 January 2017, Leeder became co-editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Epidemiology for nine years. He was also the inaugural director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy at the University of Sydney, which was renamed the Leeder Centre for Health Policy, Economics, and Data in his honour on 3 December 2024.

Early life and education Leeder was born in Grafton, New South Wales on 13 December 1941. He attended Homebush Boys High School and the University of Sydney, where he graduated with First Class Honours in Medical Science in 1964; and with Second Class Honours in medicine and surgery in 1966. As a Doctor of Philosophy in 1974 (his dissertation was entitled, "An epidemiological study of selected factors which may pre-dispose to chronic obstructive lung disease"), and as a Doctor of Medicine in 2006 (his dissertation was entitled, "Studies of factors that affect the lung function of children").

Career Leeder began his career as an intern at Royal North Shore Hospital in North Sydney in 1966.

Leeder has a history of involvement in public health research, educational development and policy. His research interests as a clinical epidemiologist have been primarily asthma and cardiovascular disease. Leeder's interest in public health was piqued by spending 1968 in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. He and his colleagues developed a report, based on research data and scientific interpretation, of the economic consequences of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in developing economies. The report, "A Race against Time: the challenge of cardiovascular disease in developing economies", focussed on the macroeconomic consequences of CVD—particularly on the fact that one-third of CVD deaths in many developing countries were occurring in people of working age. and his career in western Sydney began in 1986. He returned to work at the Westmead Hospital at that time and was appointed as director of the Research and Education Network for the health district. It was a time of major development and redevelopment of facilities in the health district. An advocate for integrating care in the community with hospital services, he has advised federal and state governments on prevention and health service provision.

Leeder has served as an academic staff representative on the University of Sydney Senate for several terms, Leeder was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2018. He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN). and the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal from the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA). He was subsequently awarded the BUPA Advocacy Award in 2011. More recently, on 12 December 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Medicine degree by the University of Newcastle, followed by his election as a fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN) in 2025.

Personal life Leeder lives in Sydney and Wentworth Falls, and is married to Dr. Katharine Esson. He has three children: Nicholas Leeder, Robert Leeder, and James Leeder. Leeder published a book of his poems, Pilgrim Soul, in 2024.