Pakistani scientist Mishal Khan has been elected to the governing body of Europe’s leading public health university, the London School of Hygiene and Tropic Medicine (LSHTM). The LSHTM has been at the forefront of research on Covid-19 in recent months, and has a 120-year history of public health research and teaching. The institution’s governing body, known as the Council is responsible for overall operational and strategic management at a time when public health institutions are playing a critical role in a global health crisis. The announcement was made by the chair of LSHTM Council, Don Roberts, who is known for his position as the chairman of the London Stock Exchange Group. LSHTM has more than 3000 staff based around the world, and Dr Khan was voted into this prestigious role by her academic colleagues. Since senior positions at global public health universities are dominated by white, male academics, the election of a Pakistani woman to Council has been appreciated as a shift from the norm that allows the perspectives of lower-income country experts to be represented. Dr Khan rose through the LSHTM system, having started as a Masters student there in 2003, and subsequently winning a Commonwealth scholarship to complete her PhD on tuberculosis control in Pakistan at LSHTM. Dr Khan is now globally recognised for her specialist expertise on improving systems and policies for infectious disease control in South and Southeast Asian countries and she has led work in Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Cambodia. With her primary focus on improving health policies in Pakistan, Dr Khan holds a visiting faculty position at the Aga Khan University and is also a consultant at the renowned UK think-tank, the Centre on Universal Health at Chatham House.