Environment and Health Research at Sussex

Why are some people healthier than others? What makes an environment healthy? These big questions about Environment and Health lead researchers down different paths, from the molecular biologist exploring what triggers a cancer, to the science policy expert exploring different ways of understanding risk in the food chain.

What is special about Sussex is its interdisciplinary strength in rallying researchers across the university to work together, creating new insights and approaches. Within Environment and Health research, mathematicians work with biologists on tumour growth and medics with informatics specialists on the use of medical records.

The Environment and Health Research Theme seeks to bring researchers together to work creatively on problems that transcend single disciplines – whether big or small. Building on the work of Sussex pioneers, such as John Maynard Smith, it supports and enables the development of collaborations designed to address the questions of the 21st century. What is the impact of the environment on ecosystems and health? How do we communicate ambiguity and uncertain scientific knowledge? How do targets and regulation affect the outcomes and experience of health care? These are some of the questions posed by researchers at Sussex. The Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and the new South Downs National Park have recently brought new dimensions to our research potential in these fields.