The Global Health Initiative (GHI) is a cross-departmental research platform set up to increase the coherence and visibility of Global Health research activity across the School, both internally and externally. It provides support for interdisciplinary engagement and showcases LSE’s ability to apply rigorous social science research to emerging global health challenges.
Global health captures a field of work concerned with understanding, and very often improving, health concerns around the world. As such, global health questions will typically not fall under a single disciplinary heading. Rather the best ways to understand global health issues, or to improve global health outcomes, will often require strategic engagement with concepts and methods from a variety of sources.
Originally announced by the School back in 2014, the initiative has been fostered by the Departments of Health Policy, International Development, and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, but is open to all disciplines. The GHI grew out of a recognition that global health related work was being undertaken across the LSE, but often spread across different departments according to discipline or subject specific focus. As such there was a need for a body that could help coordinate this work – facilitating collaboration amongst LSE academic, as well as raising awareness of the global health related work we undertake for broader audiences.
The platform hosts a range of activities both internally at the LSE and open to the public. These include public global health seminars, an internal LSE Global Health Peer Review Group and a range of events for LSE postgraduate students working on global health related topics.
Global Health Initiative Steering Committee members come from a range of disciplines – including representatives from the initiative’s three founding departments, Health Policy, International Development, and Psychological & Behavioural Sciences. The committee guides the activities undertaken and sets the initiative’s annual work plan.
Current members include:
Justin Parkhurst
Chair, Department of Health Policy
Beth Kreling
Deputy Chair, Department of Health Policy
Alexia Honoré
Unit Manager
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Ana De Menezes-Silva
PhD Representative, Department of Geography and Environment
Arjan Gjonca
Department of International Development
Lei (Alice) Bian
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
Lourdes Sosa
Department of Management
Mathias Koenig-Archibugi
Department of Government and Department of International Relations
Matteo M Galizzi
Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science
Shalini Grover
International Inequalities Institute
Tiziana Leone
Department of International Development
The initiative’s activities are guided by a Steering Committee comprising LSE staff from a range of representative Departments working in Global Health including the Departments of International Development, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, Social Policy, Management, and Philosophy and supported by a Secretariat based within LSE Health. Our activities include:
Seminars
Film viewings
Networking events
Peer review sessions
Sharing research from across the School
Interdisciplinary blogging