Neil Poulter is Professor of Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine at Imperial College, London. Early in his career he led the Kenyan Luo migration study which helped establish the role of sodium intake in the rise of blood pressure with urbanisation. In the 1990s he led the international WHO Steroid Hormone study which established the importance of oral contraceptive use in cardiovascular risk. More recently, he was Trial Secretary of the landmark Anglo-Scandinavian Outcomes Trial testing interventions in 19,000 people with hypertension. He has also played a major role in formulating national and international clinical guidelines for cardiovascular risk reduction.