Sarah is Professor of Gerontology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing. Sarah was appointed a CBE for services to Demography in 2018 and Chair of the NGO HelpAge International in 2024. Sarah served on the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, which advises the UK Prime Minister on the scientific evidence for strategic policies, and chaired the UK government’s Foresight Review on Ageing Populations. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Anthropology Institute and holds a Royal Society for Public Health Arts and Health Research Award for her research.
Sarah has a background in anthropology and population studies. Her current research on demographic change addresses the implications of falling fertility and increasing life expectancy, and the interaction of population change with the social and natural environment. She is the author of many books on demographic implications, most recently How Population Change will Transform our World.