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Sussex ranked 12th in league table for global health research

The University of Sussex has been placed 12th in a new table that ranks UK universities according to their commitment to global health research.

Logo for the Global Health League Table

A photo of a child health clinic in MalawiA child health clinic in Malawi

The new UK University Global Health Research League Table, which was launched in the Houses of Parliament last week (21 January), grades the 25 research universities that receive the most funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC).

The survey, carried out by student group Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) and student network Medsin-UK during 2013 and 2014, used a number of criteria.

These included the percentage of funding dedicated to neglected diseases; whether the researchers share new discoveries in ways that ensure medicines reach people in developing countries at affordable prices; and how much of their research is freely available online.

A number of researchers at Sussex work on global health, covering issues such as bioethics, pandemics, bioterrorism and infectious diseases. They come from disciplines as wide-ranging as economics, anthropology, politics, statistics and epidemiology.

Many of these Sussex researchers collaborate via the University’s interdisciplinary Centre for Global Health Policy, which promotes the quality and equality of people’s health around the world.

The Centre works closely with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) on campus and with Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), which hosts the Wellcome Trust Brighton and Sussex Centre for Global Health Research (WTBSCGHR) and runs taught postgraduate courses in Global Health.

There is also an active Global Health Network at Sussex, co-chaired by the Centre directors, Professors Stefan Elbe (CGHP) and Melanie Newport (WTBSCGHR).

“We are pleased to be recognised in this new league table for our efforts in global health research,” says Professor Newport, Professor in Infectious Diseases and Global Health at BSMS.

“However, there is also room to do more. At Sussex we are developing our multidisciplinary global health research programmes, which span a wide breadth of important global health areas.

“We also need to make sure that there is open online access to all of our global health research, either through open access publishing or via the University’s institutional repository, Sussex Research Online.”

Any colleagues who want to find out more are invited to contact Professor Newport, who attended the launch of the Global Health Research League Table.